The tour comes to a climactic finish with Pattie\u2019s zigzagging, 100-mile solo backpacking trek (opens in new tab)<\/a> from Point Reyes to the Warfield Theatre for a final performance Saturday. That show, \u201cPattie Gonia: Holiday Save Her,\u201d had initially been slated for the much-smaller Regency Ballroom, but Pattie\u2019s growing fanbase (opens in new tab)<\/a> required an upgrade.<\/p>\n Pattie expects to cross the Golden Gate Bridge on Friday morning. All week, she\u2019ll 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.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Standard spoke with Pattie before she set out, discussing drag as political resistance, the brewing backlash against joy, and her favorite earrings.<\/p>\n This conversation has been condensed and edited for clarity.<\/p>\n 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?<\/p>\n 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\u2019s what welcomed millions more to fight with us.\u00a0<\/p>\n What I wish more people knew about joy is that it\u2019s a very serious way to take action. Drag has shown me it\u2019s 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\u2019re really good at critiquing other people in the movement and really good at tearing things down \u2014 but not good at building things. I\u2019m always down to build more than I am down to destroy.\u00a0<\/p>\n Your shows include the prominent use of the American flag. How would you describe your relationship to it?<\/p>\n 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\u2019t know they\u2019ll ever let themselves feel. When I was younger and I first came out, so many people said, \u201cHow could you ever do this to me?\u201d What they meant was, \u201cHow dare you show me what freedom looks like?\u201d I\u2019m down to fight for the America that I believe in, which is one where everyone is equal and everyone is free. I\u2019m not going to let MAGA take that from me.\u00a0<\/p>\n You\u2019re 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?<\/p>\n I definitely get outdoors a lot. I just do it for myself. I get to backpack a lot and don\u2019t share it, because it\u2019s for me. I spend a lot of time in outdoor areas \u2014 not particularly in national parks, because there\u2019s a lot of public land that\u2019s very much under threat.<\/p>\n What can people expect Saturday at The Warfield?<\/p>\n A celebration of Bay Area drag! It\u2019s really important to me to highlight local drag artists. Vera! (opens in new tab)<\/a> is a co-host. They are from the Bay, so this is a homecoming for them, and we\u2019re working with several different drag kings, queens, and go-go dancers. It\u2019s going to be the queerest holiday show you can go to. Come celebrate the holi-gays with us.\u00a0<\/p>\n You were last in San Francisco in October, putting together a drag show (opens in new tab)<\/a> on Ocean Beach during the No Kings protests<\/a>. Was it a success?<\/p>\n There\u2019s 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)<\/a>, which gets queer bodies on surfboards \u2014 especially trans people and low-income people. It was a blast, a very beautiful day on Ocean Beach fighting for people.\u00a0<\/p>\n What was the best number?\u00a0<\/p>\n There was a drag performer \u2014 I don\u2019t know if they identify as a drag king \u2014 but they performed as a starfish (opens in new tab)<\/a>, which really tickled me.<\/p>\n There\u2019s a physical endurance to your drag that reminds me of Taylor Mac, who brought the sweeping \u201cA 24-Decade History of Popular Music (opens in new tab)<\/a>\u201d to SF several years ago. Then judy (opens in new tab)<\/a> won a MacArthur \u201cgenius grant.\u201d<\/p>\n I love Taylor Mac! I love queer artists who not only think but also act outside of the box. There\u2019s so much potential for drag, and I\u2019m always down to explore the trail less traveled.<\/p>\n You\u2019re also a musician. How is your songwriting going?<\/p>\n 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\u2019s a very special artist to me. I can\u2019t share much right now.\u00a0<\/p>\n What\u2019s the best piece of advice you\u2019ve gotten?\u00a0<\/p>\n It\u2019s not so much advice, but I really admire people who say no more than they say yes. I admire artists who realize that it\u2019s not about them. It\u2019s about what they give to people. It\u2019s about the experiences they have with other people and the ways they can make people\u2019s day. My goal with my art is to make good things with people that I love, and if I can do that, there\u2019s not a bad day. A lot of queer art gets overlooked or not taken seriously because of how overt it is or how it\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n Lastly, since we\u2019re on the phone and I can\u2019t see you, what earrings are you wearing today?<\/p>\n Actually, no earrings! I\u2019ve been wearing carabiners on tour for eight months.<\/p>\n Date and timeDec. 6, 8 p.m.![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/-S3840x2816-FPNG.png\"\/)
Pattie has won numerous accolades in recent years, including inclusion on the Out100. | Getty Images<\/p>\n