WALK A MILE IN THESE HEELS: NATURE ADVOCATE AND DRAG QUEEN PATTIE GONIA

The next time you take a hike through the mountains, try doing it in six-inch heels. Think that’s crazy? Pattie Gonia doesn’t.

As the world’s first backpacking queen, Pattie Gonia is the drag persona of professional photographer Wyn Wiley. What started as a fun side project evolved into a passionate art form that allowed Wiley to explore all sides of gender expression. When Pattie made her debut on Instagram in October 2018, she gained more than 30,000 followers within a month. Pattie’s ultimate goal is to celebrate diversity in the outdoors and promote inclusion. She hopes to inspire people to spend more time outside, particularly those who have historically been excluded from the outdoor community, including LGBTQ people, people of color, and plus-sized folks. Pattie looks forward to expanding her community. OUT FRONT had the opportunity to talk more with Pattie about her nature advocacy, inspiring others with her platform, and strutting up the mountain in her signature heels.

Hi, Pattie! Thank you for taking the time to chat with me. For those who are unfamiliar, who is Pattie Gonia, and what is her mission?

Ah, what a great question. Pattie Gonia is, honestly, just a beautiful home for all of my creativity, but I think it most shows up as my love for the outdoors, my love for drag, and my love of making things in general. Pattie’s mission, I think at the end of the day, is to get every person outside and to make everyone feel as welcome outside so we realize what a beautiful world we have and how much Mother Nature deserves to be protected.

How did you get the idea to create this persona?

Pure accident. Literally, sometimes life sweeps you up, and you have the chance to make it what you need it to be, and I think I very much didn’t know how much I needed Pattie in my life. I am, in a way, very grateful to be her, but also in a weird, abstract way, just grateful to fill her boots.

Why did you choose an outdoorsy platform?

I want my drag to be intersectional with my life, and I really care about the outdoors, advocacy work, being the best ally I can be. So, it seemed like a no-brainer to combine everything I am passionate about and to channel it through the art form of drag.

Have you always had a passion for environmentalism?

I have always had a love and appreciation for the outdoors, but I think my environmental advocacy and allyship has grown exponentially since putting on my boots as Pattie.

People know Pattie Gonia as a backpacking queen who hikes in heels. How is that even possible? I can barely hike wearing normal tennis shoes.

You know, it is, one, hard work. Two, it is crazy, but also let’s just think about what else is crazy. Like, riding a mountain bike down a mountain at 40 mph. That sh*t’s crazy. Hiking in heels, it’s not that crazy to me. I would say, I don’t know. It’s never about the distance to me, so I don’t really know. I think it’s just always about putting them on at some point. I know that’s like a 'wah-wah’ answer, but I will tell you that the hardest thing I have ever hiked in is sand. Sand is so hard.

Do you have a certain or favorite pair of hiking heels?

Yeah, they are just my classic, black boots. They’re, like, kind of the OG pair and kind of the only style of heel that I really wear. It provides its purposes as not having a stiletto, which definitely makes hiking easier. Definitely has a bigger heel, but I feel at home in them. They are just kind of like a symbol to myself of my femininity in the outdoors.

Why do you think Pattie has resonated with so many people?

I think that Pattie has resonated with people because, to be honest, I think they see themselves in Pattie. I think that the outdoor community and the outdoor industry have needed new archetypes for a long time, and I think with Pattie, people feel seen. I think that is very important, and I think there is a lot more femininity to embrace in the outdoors.

You recently released a film called Dear Humanity, and it was selected to be featured at some prominent film festivals. How exciting is that?

I can tell you that it feels totally surreal. I am very honored and excited to see queer representation happening more and more. I think I will be even more excited to see not just white, cis, male, queers represented in media, but more intersectional diversity, too. I want to see outdoor and environmental films made about queer people of color, queer Indigenous people. I want to see intersectional stories told.

Without giving too much away, can you tell us the premise of Dear Humanity?

Yes. The premise is, I go to Hawaii to encounter firsthand the world’s plastic crisis and how much plastic ends up in our oceans. I experience that, then I try to take some action. I then use Pattie to create a drag performance based off of the plastic crisis.

What do you hope audiences take away from this film?

I hope they take away that it is possible. So much of the time, we think of these environmental spaces as zero-waste or bust, or you have to be perfect, or it’s not worth it at all. I am here to champion until the day I break an ankle. Like, imperfection is the way, and this is not my quote, but I think we need millions of people doing less waste imperfectly and not just a handful of people doing zero-waste perfectly. So, I think the whole takeaway for me is that it’s possible to actually implement these things in your life. Once you kind of make a 1 percent change in your life, it is easy for that to snowball into a whole different life.

Why does gender and sexuality matter in the outdoors?

am learning so much about how queer nature is, and how much of a lack of a binary there is in nature, but how much of a binary there is in our understanding of gender and sexuality. So, I am excited to bend that every which way, just like nature does.

A lot of times, being outdoorsy is reserved for rich, white folks. How can we change that and make the outdoors more accessible?

I think a pattern that I look through often when I look to do activism or to take an action as an ally is to think about, what is the next best step in my life? We think of allyship or activism as this giant, very abstract thing with these giant grandiose measures, and I think what it actually looks like to welcome everyone to the outdoors is to think about inviting queer friends onto the trail. Creating a queer or a more intersectionally diverse community and putting your money where your mouth is. Supporting the outdoor leaders that are really doing this work and creating this community and knowing that you can create this community, too. I just think about all the different ways you have to highlight people. It’s not just your money; it’s your voice. Maybe it’s your job title and some of your privilege. There are so many ways that we can set your creativity, your art. So many different ways.

What more do you hope to accomplish with your platform?

Honestly, I just want to keep on being curious. I do not know which way Pattie’s will lead and my life will lead, but I know that with a platform, comes the responsibility of really showing up for people and the community that exists there. I have been excited to explore what it looks like to kind of battle the ego, to kill the ego. Listen, to be really honest with you, I think that the journey with Pattie has been one of, like, trying to leave the ego as much at the door as possible so that I can remember what is important, which is people making space for everyone to be out there. I think that will be an important journey to always remember that.

What can we expect next from Pattie Gonia?

Hmm, these are great questions. Well, listen, I think that at the end of the day, I am just so weird, and I am excited to reveal more of my weirdness and more of the human that I am. I think I searched for drag to be this liberation from self, and now I am encountering how much of a mask it can be. So, I think always remembering to keep it human and always remembering to mix art with community with activism. You have to remember that drag was an art form birthed in activism. I am excited to get it back there.

How can one stay up-to-date with you?

You can follow me on Instagram, which is about the only social media platform I have the time and capacity for. My handle is @pattiegonia.