Patagonia Sues Climate Activist ‘Drag Queen’

A word to the punny: Make sure your word play doesn’t tread too close to someone’s trademark. 

Patagonia, the outdoor apparel and gear company, is reportedly taking legal action against “Pattie Gonia,” who describes himself as an “independent drag artist advocating for people & our planet.”

“Pattie Gonia’s” legal name is Wyn Wiley. Wiley has about 1.5 million followers on Instagram. A recent video series depicts Wiley trekking “100 miles in drag” to raise money for outdoor nonprofits. (RELATED: DAVID BLACKMON: Is The Climate Scare Narrative Headed For Bankruptcy?)

According to a court document obtained by Bloomberg Law:

Patagonia alleges Wiley recently filed a trademark application “claiming the exclusive right to the brand PATTIE GONIA for, among other things, apparel, online marketing services, promoting public awareness of and motivational speaking services in support of environmental sustainability and LGBTQIA2S+ equality, organizing community sporting and cultural events, organizing, arranging, and conducting trail and hiking events, entertainment services in the nature of live musical performances, and music recordings.

“These products and services compete directly with the products and advocacy upon which Patagonia built its PATAGONIA brand over the last fifty-three years. The trademark application reflects Pattie Gonia’s departure from discrete use of a persona to engage in activism and confirms Defendants’ intent instead to launch a wide-ranging commercial enterprise under the PATTIE GONIA brand.”

Patagonia clarified that it “supports advocacy and activism that promote the environment and inclusion in the outdoors” and has communicated with Wiley in the past about “how advocacy work might continue in a way that would not interfere with Patagonia’s brand,” but claims Wiley “has not honored the agreement,” according to the document. 

One wonders if Patagonia could’ve avoided this mess in its entirety by objecting to Wiley’s activities from the outset. But the brand has apparently hitched its wagon to bizarre sex stuff. Patagonia released a film called “They/Them” in 2021, which “follows Lor, a trans climber, into the sandstone canyons of northern Arizona.” Patagonia also supports Queer Nature. Queer Nature promotes “[n]ature-intimacy, naturalist studies, place-based skills  for LGBTQIA+, Two-Spirit, & non-binary people and allies,” according to its website.

“We dream into what queer ‘ancestral futurism’ and other alternatives to modernity could look like through mentorship in place-based skills with awareness of post-industrial/globalized/ecocidal contexts,” says Queer Nature. 

Okay, but what does any of this have to do with hiking?

Patagonia’s lawsuit includes alleged screenshots of emails between Patagonia and Wiley. “Patagonia admires the climate work Pattie does,” one email sent by Patagonia reads. (RELATED: Climate Change Concern Plummets In Big Cities, Poll Finds)

Wiley’s email signature allegedly includes the phrase, “Drag Queen, Professional Homosexual & Intersectional Environmentalist.”

It’s a little funny how fiercely Patagonia’s attorneys have worked to clarify that Patagonia does not necessarily object to Wiley’s crossdressing. As the saying goes: If you lie down with dogs, you get up with fleas.

Follow Natalie Sandoval on X: @NatSandovalDC