Nebraska · performance · pop

Pattie Gonia

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A drag queen and environmental organizer whose sets are equal parts performance, choir, and outdoor-access advocacy — camp with a cause.

Pattie Gonia is the drag persona of Wyn Wiley, born in 1992 and raised in Lincoln, Nebraska. Wiley studied advertising and public relations at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, graduating in 2014, and worked as a creative director and photographer before turning to drag, first performing under the name Ginger Snap in early 2018.

The character debuted in October 2018, growing out of images of drag performed outdoors, heels on trails, gowns in the backcountry. Its name plays on the Patagonia region of South America and the outdoor clothing brand of a similar sound. The first video posted under the persona, built around outdoors-themed activism on Instagram and TikTok, drew more than 100 million views.

In 2022 Wiley co-founded The Outdoorist Oath, a nonprofit working on diversity and environmental issues in the outdoors community, and partnered with The North Face on a Summer of Pride series of community events. Pattie Gonia also built a job board connecting queer job-seekers with employers, and has been named to Out magazine's Out100, Time's Next Generation Leaders and National Geographic's Traveler of the Year lists.

Live, the project sits somewhere between a pop set, a comedy routine and a community sing, often incorporating choral arrangements and inviting audiences to join in. The material leans on camp and humour while carrying explicit messaging about access to public lands, climate action and making outdoor spaces welcoming to LGBTQ+ people.

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