National Geographic Names Drag Queen a 2024 Traveler of the Year
Maybe it’s just this editor, but he prefers his drag queens without facial hair.
National Geographic has named its nine 2024 Travelers of the Year, and among them is … drum roll … drag queen Pattie Gonia.
Of course, it’s by design. Just about every Woman of the Year in 2023 was a man. Trans swimmer Lia Thomas was nominated as Woman of the Year by the NCAA, and Attitude Magazine named Dylan Mulvaney as its Woman of the Year.
So what makes Gonia so special?
Good News, which reports on climate change, LGBTQ issues, mental health, and racial justice, writes:
Pattie Gonia is more than a drag queen; she’s an environmentalist who is introducing the magic of nature to a new generation. And she just topped the list for nine game changers that were featured in National Geographic’s 2024 Travelers of the Year.
When the publication hit newsstands and web browsers, Pattie Gonia (whose off-stage name is Wyn Wiley) — took to Threads to acknowledge that receiving the title of Traveler of the Year was an honor.
In the article, the magazine recognizes Pattie Gonia’s work as the co-founder of the nonprofit organization Outdoorist Oath, which promotes adventure, education, and climate justice through an inclusive lens.
Every year my community fundraises to send 10 queer youth on a fully scholarshipped backpacking trip, Pattie Gonia told National Geographic. One of the attendees told me and the group around the fire, ‘Being on this trip has helped me reclaim a childhood I didn’t get to have.’ That’s everything to me.
We’ve already been assured that camping is racist — ABC News did a feature on the existential crisis over race facing National Parks, which remain stubbornly white — and it’s apparently anti-LGBTQ as well.
National Geographic narrowed the field down to just nine people, one of whom turns out to be a drag queen. What are the odds?
He’s a climate activist who helps queer kids experience the childhoods they never had.
