Drag Queen Raises $1.2M for Nature With Joy and Glitter

A drag queen in full makeup and costume just proved that fighting climate change doesn't have to feel like doom and gloom.

Pattie Gonia, a professional drag artist turned environmental activist, has raised $1.2 million for environmental nonprofits and built a community of 2 million Instagram followers. Her secret weapon isn't data or fear, it's joy, glitter, and making activism genuinely fun.

"If we want people to join this movement, we have to make it freaking fun," Pattie told Mongabay's podcast. She recently hiked 100 miles in complete drag into San Francisco, combining performance art with environmental advocacy in a way that turns heads and opens hearts.

Her approach celebrates the hundreds of queer researchers and scientists working in environmental fields while making nature activism accessible to everyone. Instead of highlighting what divides us, Pattie focuses on what unites humanity: our shared connection to the natural world.

She's calling for unlikely alliances between groups who rarely work together. "We have hunters over here and we have little liberal L.A. girlies over here," she explains. "And we're all actually fighting for the same thing."

The real enemies aren't each other, she argues, but the billionaires and corporations profiting from environmental destruction. Infighting and exclusion are tools used by powerful interests to break up social movements, and Pattie refuses to play that game.

The Ripple Effect

Pattie's vision extends beyond individual action to cultural transformation. She wants to see art, culture, and nature merge into a unified movement that celebrates what makes the environmental cause worth fighting for.

Her perspective on nature itself comes through a queer lens. "Queerness is the way in which a dandelion will find a way to sprout and bloom in the middle of a concrete sidewalk," she says. It's about adaptation, resilience, and finding creative solutions rather than rigid survival of the fittest.

She encourages people to channel privilege into action rather than guilt. "My privilege is not something that I feel guilty about," Pattie explains. "It's something that motivates me to take more action."

Her message resonates because it's honest about imperfection. She acknowledges her own carbon footprint while refusing to let that stop her from making a difference.

Pattie encourages everyone to start locally, building advocacy from the ground up. Inaction only leads to more oppression and ecological harm, but collective support can sustain the marathon of fighting harmful corporations.

The environmental movement has traditionally relied on fear and urgency, but Pattie Gonia is betting that joy, inclusion, and celebration will bring more people to the cause and keep them there for the long haul.