Pattie Gonia: Defying Binaries and Boundaries

Pattie Gonia is a drag queen, performer, musician, space-maker, and environmental activist who first gained traction online by posting photos hiking in high heels. Since going viral, Wyn Wiley has continued to develop the persona of Pattie Gonia, amassing over one million Instagram followers and collaborating with notable companies, including National Geographic. 

        Growing up, Wiley felt disconnected from nature, often being told that her queerness was unnatural and feeling the need to disguise her true self. She remembers feeling uncomfortable because of the forceful masculinity and binaries reinforced at summer camp as a kid. Now, she works to create a welcoming space for queer people in the outdoors through non-profit initiatives like Brave Trails, which provides queer youth with opportunities for trips and summer camps, as well as Outdoorist Oath, which works toward intersectional environmental action. Through these initiatives, Wiley is healing and reconnecting with nature, while helping queer youth to find a sense of belonging in the outdoors. 

        Wiley’s intrinsic motivation for environmental action bleeds into her creative motivation for drag. Just as nature has become a healing space for Wiley, she explains in an interview for The Creative Independent that “drag is a very healing part of my [her] queerness”. Performing as Pattie Gonia is about genuine self-expression, something that was denied to her in her youth as she felt pressured to present herself as straight-passing. She sees drag as a performance of self-expression and utilizes it in comedic and musical performances to build a welcoming community for queer people and advocate for various causes. 

        Collaboration is central to Wyn Wiley’s creativity. “I view art and projects as meadows that you get to nurture together with the people involved,” she says. To Wiley, everyone she collaborates with forms a part of her ecosystem, and each of their perspectives inform her work in unique ways. In Creative Spark, Agustín Fuentes states that “sexuality can be used as a way to facilitate openness and trust via acceptance of the diverse range of human experiences” (188). Throughout the history of human development, we have always formed communities, and our creative interpretations of sexuality and gender, especially, contribute to establishing strong communities based on trust and acceptance. Just like early humans who lived and worked collaboratively, Wiley uses drag, which is inherently an expression of sexuality and gender, to bring people together and build an inclusive community.

        In her creativity, Wiley explains that she is not afraid to make mistakes and that the most important thing is the freedom to create something true to herself. She says, “I’d rather do something, mess up, own it and move on than not do anything at all,” and compares her creative process to nature, which is always growing and adapting to challenges. Wiley emphasizes the importance of doing what feels right in the moment and not restricting her creativity to a certain topic, medium, or persona. Music has been her newest venture, releasing several pop singles as Pattie Gonia in 2024. 

        Pattie Gonia is currently on tour performing an environmental drag show titled ‘SAVE HER!’, which is centered around climate change and solutions. These shows feature Pattie Gonia performing songs, as well as performances by other notable drag queens and local drag artists, depending on the location of the show. To date, Wyn Wiley and Pattie Gonia have fundraised over 2.7 million dollars for environmental, LGBTQIA, and BIPOC nonprofits. Wiley is proud to participate in the tradition of drag, which she says has always been tied to protesting and community organizing, by using it to fight for both people and the planet.

“Drag Queen and Musician Pattie Gonia on Learning along the Way – the Creative Independent.” Thecreativeindependent.com, 2024, thecreativeindependent.com/people/
drag-queen-and-musician-pattie-gonia-on-learning-along-the-way/.

‌Gonia, Pattie. “Pattie Gonia.” Pattie Gonia, 2019, www.pattiegonia.net/about. ‌

Rapkin, Mickey. “Activist Pattie Gonia Is on a Mission to Make the Outdoors a More Welcoming Place.” Culture, 18 Mar. 2025, www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/article/

pattie-gonia-nat-geo-33-2025.