Evan Benally Atwood
Disruptors
Pattie Gonia
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Pattie Gonia is a drag artist and activist whose work “focuses on environmental solutions — making art at the intersection of activism and making spaces for queer people that the community often forgets exist, [such as] queers in rural and outdoor spaces.”
The boldness, confidence, and determination of a drag icon are all found within Gonia, except that she’s not trying to defeat a lip-sync assassin, please a reality TV judging panel, or serve glamour in a pageant. She’s trying to save the world.
“The biggest obstacle I, and we, have all faced this year is the climate crisis,” she says, expressing how the LGBTQ+ community needs to refocus, see themselves as a part of nature, and collaborate on finding the best solutions for a sustainable future.
“We, as queer people, are not apart from nature; we are a part of nature. Queerness is not ‘unnatural’ — queerness is nothing but natural, and species that exhibit queerness can be found in every ecosystem on planet Earth.” @pattiegonia
Bernardo Sim
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Anonymous
Bernardo SimBernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Bernardo Sim is the deputy editor of Out, as well as a writer and content creator. Born in Brazil, he currently lives in South Florida. You can follow him on Instagram at @bernardosim.
Natalie Wynn
Meet one of the artists, disruptors, educators, groundbreakers, innovators, and storytellers who all helped make the world a better place for LGBTQ+ people.
Anonymous
Known to fans as ContraPoints, Natalie Wynn amassed 1.83 million YouTube subscribers by creating what she says are “video essays about politics and social issues, from online hate movements to the madness of J.K. Rowling.”
The transgender lesbian influencer makes epic, hours-long video essays that approach topics with academic rigor while creating hilarious and profound pieces of media that involve sets, costumes, ambient lighting, and the intellectual threading of philosophy with pop culture. This year, Wynn released a three-hour-long video where she “mapped the intricate depravities of heterosexual fantasy by studying The Twilight Saga.” In six months, the video amassed 4.5 million views.
However, being continually online has its pitfalls. “My biggest obstacle is the mental illness that afflicts anyone with an online reputation,” she says. “The love and the hate are equally dangerous. Narcissism and paranoia go together. The only cure is knowing when to step away.”
Wynn, an essential voice for her generation, wants the world to know that “LGBTQ+ people are just like everybody else, except more gay.” @contrapoints