A successful photographer, actor, singer, songwriter and an avid hiker, Wyn Wiley risked his livelihood and even his life when he began advocating for the environment and for more involvement by people who are LGBTQ+.

As a kid growing up in Nebraska, Wiley was told that he was unnatural himself so he felt sure that he didn’t belong in Nature. In his 20s and more confident, he spent long, restorative hours in the outdoors, as a straight-passing man. Until the day he came out as “Pattie Gonia,” an outdoorsy, backpacking, drag queen.

Wylie went up a mountain and at the summit, changed into high heels and make-up, taking photos of drag queen Pattie and posting them in Wylie’s social accounts.“

The messages started streaming in,” Wylie recalls, “calling me every word under the sun. A lot of people who I really thought were in my corner unfollowed me.”

There were threats but Wylie/Gonia goes on as an “intersectional environmentalist,” running free backpacking courses and summer camps, and providing free hiking gear for LGBTQ+ people who want to spend time in nature. They also hear why they should join Wylie/Gonia in protecting that world, as Wyn Wiley and Pattie Gonia continue to do.