Pattie Gonia Goes into Full Bloom for Carnival
by Steve Desroches
Parade day of Carnival Week in Provincetown has become a holiday really. It’s a bit like the Provincetown New Year as it is without a doubt the most crowded day of the year. Life in Provincetown is much about managing human traffic as on any given day in the summer the town’s population is increased tenfold, never mind parade day. The day after the big celebration, one can feel the sigh of September approach as if the parade was one giant steam release valve of joy and happiness. But that Friday has grown into something else, a special day of its own, as if you awake early enough and walk around town, you will notice the streets shimmering with all the glitter that was the fabulous detritus of the day. It’s become Sparkle Friday, if you will.
While most revel in the uniquely Provincetown phenomenon, it does at times elicit concerns over microplastics (though many cosmetic companies make biodegradable glitter now), as well as jokes that perhaps after the first rain to follow Carnival there is a glitter slick in the harbor. It might come as a bit of a surprise to find out then that famed environmental activist, drag queen, and Carnival headliner Pattie Gonia explains how she stopped worrying and learned to love glitter.
While applauding the move the Provincetown Business Guild made a couple of years ago to ban plastic Mardi Gras beads from being thrown from floats in the parade, as they often end up tangled in trees and electrical wires or get into drains, and at times the ocean, she doesn’t see anything wrong with a little glitter. Last year she and her friends handed out flowers on Carnival, a biodegradable gift, but also wore a bit of glitter.
“I use glitter sparingly,” says Pattie. “Yes, microplastics are bad. Like everyone else I do the best I can. But we need to be focusing on matters of scale. There can be too much focus on individual use and behavior. This common practice on the left to police other people’s behavior ends up with the left eating the left. All this shaming, sanctimony, and guilt. It’s not working. Billionaires and corporations pollute the Earth more in one day than you will ever do in your entire lifetime. That’s not to say let’s not talk about things. But glitter on Carnival? Don’t get distracted when it’s the billionaires and corporations that are putting profits over people and our environment.”
Pattie Gonia has been making headlines for years over fabulous, tell-it-like-it-is, environmental activism. Pattie was born in 2018 when her creator Wyn Wiley went for a mountaintop hike in six-inch heels as a gag. But when she posted a photo of her expedition in heels on Instagram the response was gag worthy, leading to almost one million followers. She saw it as not just an amazing opportunity for a career in drag, but to also get the word out about combating climate change and the human-induced causes as well as other environmental issues. But she also saw a chance to help people connect with nature, something
that is scientifically proven to be beneficial to human physical and mental health.
Born and raised in Nebraska, and now calling Bend, Oregon, home, Pattie grew up loving the outdoors. But the appreciation for being out in nature was soured by homophobia while being in Boy Scouts, eventually becoming an Eagle Scout, which ruined many camping trips and group hikes. Eventually he was told he didn’t belong in many activities, an experience he later learned was common amongst LGBTQ people. That mixed with the idea that to fully be themselves LGBTQ folks have to move to a city made Pattie realize that many LGBTQ people had lost their connection with the great outdoors. So, in 2022 she co-founded the Outdoorist Oath, an effort that seeks to connect the LGBTQ community and other underrepresented groups with nature.
“The outdoors was my first safe space,” says Pattie. “I could play. I could imagine. I could be free. And then this toxic masculinity and homophobia took that away from me. A lot of my childhood was taken away. I decided to take it back and return to what it always meant to me.”
Provincetown is a big exception to the phenomenon Pattie noticed as over 80 percent of its land is in some sort of conservation protection. Having visited Provincetown several times prior, Pattie has talked to visitors who never stray off Commercial Street much and are unaware of the magnificence of the beach, dunes, and woodlands throughout the Cape Cod National Seashore. He doesn’t scold, but rather entertains. He points to Bill Nye the Science Guy as inspiration as he also educates while he entertains. And he looks to the activists of the worst years of the HIV/AIDS crisis in America, too, as they took an issue that was overwhelming and surrounded by indifference and ignorance and made people pay attention.
But the night before the parade at Town Hall will be an explosion of joy featuring an array of guest drag queens and kings. And come the parade Pattie will be marching down Commercial Street in a giant dress made out of a tent, one she’s worn before, as drag is a green art form.
“Drag queens are the best at recycling,” says Pattie. “Drag is expensive. Costumes. Wigs. Drag queens reuse everything over and over again. It’s the best upcycling
art form there is!”
Pattie Gonia presents It’s Camp! at Provincetown Town Hall, 260 Commercial St., Wednesday, August 20, 8:30 p.m. Tickets ($45 – $155) are available online at ptown.org and at the door the day of, if not sold out. For more information call 508.975.6394.
