Pattie Gonia, a world-famous drag queen and environmentalist, raised $15,000 for two trans charities after her image was used without consent in a political campaign ad for former US president Donald Trump. The artist has also shared that she is “reviewing” legal options against the ad.
Released on September 20, the advert in question highlights Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris’s support for trans people, showing a clip of her saying that she would support giving inmates access to gender-affirming care. Moreover, the Trump ad features a clip of Harris posing for photos with drag artist Pattie Gonia at a 2022 Pride event.
A voiceover says: “Kamala is for they, them. President Trump is for you.”
After the clip was released, Pattie Gonia took to Instagram on October 3 to denounce the use of her image without her consent or knowledge. In a video where she’s in full Statue of Liberty drag, the performer asked: “Is this seriously the best they’ve got?”
“No, the Trump campaign did not have my permission to use my name or likeness,” she added. “Yes, we are reviewing our legal options, and yes, I’m going to do what queer people always do, turn our pain into something positive.”
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Pattie Gonia then directed her followers – over 690,000 on Instagram and 460,000 on TikTok – to an online fundraiser for two LGBTQ+ charity organisations, Point of Pride and Trans Lifeline. Later, she updated the caption of her post with the following: “FUNDRAISER CLOSED! We just raised $15,000 for @translifeline and @pointofprideorg providing critical trans healthcare.”
The artist concluded her video with a call to action: “Vote this fall and make America gay again!”
The Trump ad featuring Pattie Gonia also used the likeness of Queer Eye star Jonathan Van Ness, who similarly reacted to the anti-trans clips. “I saw myself in a Trump TV ad today and it’s surreal. Kind of iconic, but mostly upsetting. In this commercial, Trump vilifies immigrants, trans people, and queer people generally,” Van Ness, who came out as non-binary in 2019, commented.
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They continued, “History shows us that blaming specific groups of people to get a majority of society to view them as threats rather than humans is what can come just before an ultra-conservative and or religious governments taking over their society.
“Don’t think that these white nationalist Christian politicians aren’t a threat to you and vote like it,” they concluded.
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