America’s most outdoorsy drag queen is hiking south along the California coast into San Francisco — in heels, a thick red wig, and her signature carabiner earrings.
Songwriting eco-warrior Pattie Gonia has been barnstorming around the country all year, a touring spectacle of queer defiance that has made the ginger-mustachioed 33-year-old one of the biggest faces (opens in new tab) in environmentalism and drag alike. (This year alone, she made the Time100 Creators list (opens in new tab), earned a National Geographic profile (opens in new tab), and vaulted to more than 1.3 million Instagram followers (opens in new tab).) Pattie’s shows take overt political stances, like lip-syncing to Sam Smith and Kim Petras’ gay anthem “Unholy” as a video shows the 13 CEOs whose companies are responsible for one-third of global carbon emissions.
The tour comes to a climactic finish with Pattie’s zigzagging, 100-mile solo backpacking trek (opens in new tab) from Point Reyes to the Warfield Theatre for a final performance Saturday. That show, “Pattie Gonia: Holiday Save Her,” had initially been slated for the much-smaller Regency Ballroom, but Pattie’s growing fanbase (opens in new tab) required an upgrade.
Pattie expects to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday morning. All week, she’ll be posting daily Instagram updates tracking progress and soliciting donations to eight nonprofits that help LGBTQ+ people and underprivileged communities fully appreciate the great outdoors.
The Standard spoke with Pattie before she set out, discussing drag as political resistance, the brewing backlash against joy, and her favorite earrings.
This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.
The Pattie Gonia persona is all about joy. What do you make of the sentiment brewing in the LGBTQ+ community that joy is not enough to fight encroaching fascism and may actually be lulling people into a false sense of security?
When I think of this, I think about our queer elders during the AIDS crisis. When there was almost no hope, drag performers and activists turned pain into joy. As the adage goes, they fought in the morning, mourned in the afternoon, and danced in the evening. That’s what welcomed millions more to fight with us.
What I wish more people knew about joy is that it’s a very serious way to take action. Drag has shown me it’s possible to fight something seriously without taking yourself too seriously. Joy is strategy. Joy is an inside job. My criticism right now of the progressive or woke or left people is they’re really good at critiquing other people in the movement and really good at tearing things down — but not good at building things. I’m always down to build more than I am down to destroy.
Your shows include the prominent use of the American flag. How would you describe your relationship to it?
I think America, at best, is an experiment. Freedom and the American flag mean advocating for people to feel freedom on levels that I don’t know they’ll ever let themselves feel. When I was younger and I first came out, so many people said, “How could you ever do this to me?” What they meant was, “How dare you show me what freedom looks like?” I’m down to fight for the America that I believe in, which is one where everyone is equal and everyone is free. I’m not going to let MAGA take that from me.
You’re a huge lover of national parks and a vocal supporter of the folks who hung a trans flag in Yosemite this year. Are you still able to explore?
I definitely get outdoors a lot. I just do it for myself. I get to backpack a lot and don’t share it, because it’s for me. I spend a lot of time in outdoor areas — not particularly in national parks, because there’s a lot of public land that’s very much under threat.
What can people expect Saturday at The Warfield?
A celebration of Bay Area drag! It’s really important to me to highlight local drag artists. Vera! (opens in new tab) is a co-host. They are from the Bay, so this is a homecoming for them, and we’re working with several different drag kings, queens, and go-go dancers. It’s going to be the queerest holiday show you can go to. Come celebrate the holi-gays with us.
You were last in San Francisco in October, putting together a drag show (opens in new tab) on Ocean Beach during the No Kings protests. Was it a success?
There’s no better way to celebrate No Kings Day than a drag show filled with drag kings. It was a fundraiser for Queer Surf (opens in new tab), which gets queer bodies on surfboards — especially trans people and low-income people. It was a blast, a very beautiful day on Ocean Beach fighting for people.
What was the best number?
There was a drag performer — I don’t know if they identify as a drag king — but they performed as a starfish (opens in new tab), which really tickled me.
There’s a physical endurance to your drag that reminds me of Taylor Mac, who brought the sweeping “A 24-Decade History of Popular Music (opens in new tab)” to SF several years ago. Then judy (opens in new tab) won a MacArthur “genius grant.”
I love Taylor Mac! I love queer artists who not only think but also act outside of the box. There’s so much potential for drag, and I’m always down to explore the trail less traveled.
Pattie has won numerous accolades in recent years, including inclusion on the Out100. | Getty Images
You’re also a musician. How is your songwriting going?
Every song is its own little ecosystem, and my process is always very collaborative. I have a new collaboration project coming out next year with someone who’s a very special artist to me. I can’t share much right now.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten?
It’s not so much advice, but I really admire people who say no more than they say yes. I admire artists who realize that it’s not about them. It’s about what they give to people. It’s about the experiences they have with other people and the ways they can make people’s day. My goal with my art is to make good things with people that I love, and if I can do that, there’s not a bad day. A lot of queer art gets overlooked or not taken seriously because of how overt it is or how it’s on the quote/unquote fringes, and my place as an artist is to be a bridge builder. I love to work with artists who have never been hired to perform on stage.
Lastly, since we’re on the phone and I can’t see you, what earrings are you wearing today?
Actually, no earrings! I’ve been wearing carabiners on tour for eight months.
Date and timeDec. 6, 8 p.m.