
Samuel Crossley
The Great Northern Festival returns this month with more than 50 events that celebrate northern winters. The festival has evolved over the years from simply embracing winter to a globally recognized climate conference.
As part of the Climate Solutions Series at the American Swedish Institute, one of the headliners on Jan. 28 is Midwesterner and queer eco-activist drag queen Pattie Gonia, the drag persona of Wyn Wiley. Wiley is the co-founder of The Outdoorist Oath, a nonprofit dedicated to diversity, equity, and inclusion in addition to environmental causes in the outdoors community.
Tell us a little about how that queer, little Nebraska boy found his voice in Pattie Gonia?
Growing up in a place like Nebraska, I was told that queerness was
“wrong” and “unnatural.” Now through Pattie, I know that nature is nothing but queer and queerness can be found in every ecosystem on every continent on this planet. And yes, there are gay lions and there are lesbian dolphins but there are also mushrooms that have over 10,000 sexes, Ginkgo trees that can transition sexes and thousands of species that find survival against advertsity. That’s queerness to me. Finding my voice through Pattie has helped me embrace my femininity and find the queer nature inside of me.
You’ve said drag and activism have always gone hand in hand. How does queerness intersect with sustainability and climate-related issues?
There are so many skills we learn in social justice spaces like the queer community that we can take and apply to climate related issues. Of course, there are hard skills like community organizing and restorative justice but there are also some equally important intersections like the need for celebration and joy, which the queer community does so well, that we can bring to the climate movement. I also love queerness as a way to teach anyone who’s passionate about nature that nature is a relative, not a resource. There aren’t humans and nature, rather we are nature. When we embrace that, I think we can have a climate community that’s far more in touch with ourselves and each other.
You’ve made some epic music and activism videos. Tell me about that moment you knew you were making a difference.
The biggest differences I always make come from collaboration and that collaboration comes from creating healthy ecosystems rooted in trust, accountability, love, and joy. I want deep connections and collaboration for everyone working in the climate movement. Apart we know little, and together we know so much.
What advice do you have for people wanting to get involved in the fight for Mother Nature?
We have a whole climate movement right now that thinks that they have to change who they are or what they do to fight for climate. But the reality is that we each have unique skills, diversity, and access to spaces that others never will. So, the minute you take your identity and what you are good at and apply it to what you care about, the world will never be the same.
As a fellow Midwesterner, what did you love most about growing up here?
I think the Midwest gets a bad wrap but I’m so glad I’m from the Midwest. The Midwest taught me that you can’t just give up on your neighbor because you disagree and in a lot of ways, the backcountry teaches me this, too. When you’re out on a farm and your neighbors who you’ve got, you have to work together across difference. And when you’re in the backcountry and your group of 10 people are your group, you can’t just give up on them. You have to have tough conversations, realize you’re never going to all agree, and you have to treat people with respect for their diversity. I think we need more of that in this world.