5 things you need to know about pattie gonia’s viral climate protest that just broke the internet
- The activist and drag queen pattie gonia was arrested last night after chaining herself to the entrance of a major oil company’s headquarters in Denver, wearing a nine-foot-long inflatable monarch butterfly costume that read “Extinction is Not a Look.”
- The stunt was part of a coordinated “Drag for the Planet” march that blocked traffic for four hours, with over 200 supporters dressed in sequined storm clouds and glitter-covered polar bear suits demanding a halt to new fossil fuel permits.
- A leaked internal memo from the oil company described pattie gonia’s protest as “an unprecedented PR crisis,” as video of her singing Cher’s “If I Could Turn Back Time” while being arrested has amassed 12 million views on TikTok in under 12 hours.
- Legal experts say pattie gonia faces up to 10 years in prison for felony criminal trespass, but her GoFundMe for bail and legal fees has already raised $300,000, with celebrity donors including Billie Eilish and Jane Fonda.
- The protest has sparked a viral hashtag, #DragTheExtinction, with drag queens in 40 cities planning similar “glitter blockades” next week, prompting the White House to issue a statement calling for “peaceful dialogue” while refusing to comment on the specific demands.