Everything You Need To Know

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]The outdoor clothing brand Patagonia, so named after the geographical location, is suing the drag queen Pat Agonia for trademark infringement. Literally a couple days before Pride Month, in which corporations bend over backwards to pretend that they are on the side of everyone LGBTQIA+, we have yet another lawsuit that I need to discuss because this one is tea.

[00:00:23]Let's get ready to discuss everything that's happening in the Patagonia v Pat Agonia lawsuit, which is also kind of so fun to say, because I'm going to talk about everything that's happened, some of the backlash that's already come out, and I will also be giving my opinions at the end as to why I personally think the brand Patagonia is making a huge mistake, and this could be far worse for them than if they had just let the drag queen Pat Agonia go about their day.

[00:00:50]>> [music] >> Hello everyone, and welcome to Matriarch A Type. I will be your goddess for today because drag brunch is under attack.

[00:00:58]>> Patagonia sues drag queen Pat Agonia for trademark infringement. Outdoor clothing company is suing US environmentalist drag performer for $1 plus legal fees, claiming, "We wish we didn't have to do this."

[00:01:12]>> We're going to be talking about the drag queen Pat Agonia who recently came out and kind of voiced some of the situation that's happening with the brand Patagonia. It's been happening since January, and we'll talk about some of the details as to how we've come to this point, but I think I'm sure there are legal reasons and everything why Pat Agonia has felt like she has to talk at this point, and hasn't maybe been able to until before then. So yes, I'm here talking about another lawsuit. We only just finished talking about the Noah Samson lawsuit. He's just finished going live every day to try and raise funds for his upcoming lawsuit against Ethan Klein. I managed to put my donation in of a month's patron budget just towards the end, but sadly, I don't think he's hit his $200,000 aim or goal. So please still do if you can go and and donate towards that fund. This one won't be asking for anything towards Patagonia's fund at this point. So, I don't believe she has the necessity for a GoFundMe.

[00:02:06]She is, you know, owns her own company and everything like that, which we'll get into. But so, with lawsuits in mind, go and support Nina West still if you can. And if you have no idea who I'm talking about, check out my other episode here and I will tell you everything you need to know about that other lawsuit. I'm not maybe coming one of those legal channels, which by the way, I mean I love, but obviously I should probably state here right, this is I am not a lawyer. I have no legal based opinion of this. I'm just kind of relaying the stuff I've seen and giving my opinions at the end. This is not legal advice or anything, of course. I just kind of also want to introduce Patagonia as a drag queen. She is way more down the climate activist side of things than many drag queens and you know, every drag queen has their own thing that they're passionate about. You have everything from the Trixie Mattel's of the world to probably arguably on the other end of things, Patagonia. So named after the same geographical location, which we'll come back to. But her vibe is very much like big hiking boots, hiking up mountains in full drag. And she's raised so much money and she has developed into this online persona, to be quite frank, quite a lovable and necessary activist persona that we need in the world. I think her drag persona becoming so popular is also a reflection of the times that we live in, in which climate change and corporate greed are in the mouths of the average Joe Blogs.

[00:03:20]So, it makes sense to me that Patagonia, the drag queen, has become very popular because we want to see this activism and we want to protect the planet. I would also like to take this moment to show how easy it is to say "Free Palestine.

[00:03:33][ __ ] fascism."

[00:03:35]if you want to. And so, all of these lukewarm centrists aren't quite ready to say certain things. They pale in comparison to the average drag queen that is saying everything that they need to be on their Instagram reels.

[00:03:47]It can be that easy, folks. It can be that easy. Patagonia has also raised a lot towards climate change. I would even say from my understanding of her character and persona, like that's the main core value that she has. She has, for example, resold old t-shirts that were unsellable as merch to save waste and and the merch industry can be quite wasteful. So, she even carries on her ethos into things like that. So, let's talk about this lawsuit.

[00:04:13]Patagonia is also an outdoor clothing brand that has a similar ethos and brand that is, let's save our home planet, which we will come back to because that will be very much important for my opinion of this lawsuit. Anyway, the outdoor brand has been around for several years. Now, I personally had never heard of it until this video.

[00:04:33]Maybe I'd known about it in the background, but it it very much looks like it has a large employee basis. It has various stores across the I'm going to say America and Canada, I'm not quite sure, but it looks like it's a very well-established brand. It's also trademarked the name Patagonia. And Patagonia is a geological location that's that's predated, obviously, both the drag queen and the outdoor clothing brand, as you can see here on the map where Patagonia is. I've said the word Patagonia so much now that I can't hear it and register it as a word. It It just sounds like the repetition of sound. So, apologies if my pronunciation gets worse through the progression of this video.

[00:05:14]Before we get into the discussion of the lawsuit, I think it is also important at this point to discuss the the legitimacy of trademarking a geographical location name. I mean, if you correct me if I'm wrong, it's the equivalent of having a brand that's like Mount Fuji. Like, is that a thing? I mean, maybe there is a brand out there that is trademarked for just clothes.

[00:05:35]And I know trademarks are specific to each section of the industry. You could have a brand Patagonia that is a makeup brand, and that wouldn't necessarily conflict with the trademark of a clothing brand, as far as I'm aware. And I believe some of this legal ambiguity came about when Pattie Gonia, the drag queen, started to produce some apparel, and it kind of encroached on that trademark Venn diagram. So, but we'll get back to that in a second. But going back to my point, is it ethical to be able to trademark the name of a location?

[00:06:06]I don't know. My opinion of just my opinion as well, not necessarily based on legality, but is that that becomes quite ambiguous because no one owns land, and both of these brands, both the drag queen and the clothing brand, claim to know all about that. And yet the clothing brand doesn't really seem to be living its values by claiming ownership over the name of a place. Regardless, Patagonia, the clothing brand, and I really do have to keep separating the two. But the clothing brand has finally made a complaint against drag queen Pattie Gonia for trademark infringement. And they're only in theory asking for $1 as well as legal fees. And how many legal fees that could be has been discussed on either side. We all know how much legal fees can be, but hey.

[00:06:52]The main point though is that it's not so much they want to raise more than $1 in winnings. It sounds like they want to prevent Pattie Gonia from being able to further, I guess, use the name or use the name to sell apparel. Even if it's upselling previous t-shirts and doesn't directly use any of their logo or anything.

[00:07:12]Things then also get messy when Pattie Gonia says that they are using evidence from a fan logo that was created that does kind of have similarities to their logo, but that's not necessarily something that Pattie Gonia herself has ever used to sell apparel or claims ownership of. It was just a fan art situation.

[00:07:30]>> Patagonia, a multi-billion dollar corporation, went to federal court in January to say that I am causing irreparable harm to their brand by doing, and I quote, motivational speaking services in support of environmental sustainability and organizing, arranging, and conducting trail and hiking events.

[00:07:50]Let's talk about that irreparable harm because there's three things you need to know. First, the claims of trademark infringement. I have never used their logo, font, or anything from their brand on our merch website. Instead, the lawsuit cherry-picks a few examples of playful parody and fan art and tries to spin those into some kind of vast use of their logo. Drag is built on parody, puns, and jokes, but I'm willing to never parody their logo ever again, aka never give them free PR ever again.

[00:08:22]>> Now, whether we can go back in time and see exactly what happens to my extent of this research, I couldn't see, but it does seem slightly bad faith. It's not like Patti Gonia as a drag queen, in my opinion, is selling massive t-shirts with the same branding or similar logo anyway encroaching on the Patagonia outside clothing brand at all, in my opinion. So, to me, it does seem to be an odd question of why now. The timing is very off to me.

[00:08:49]>> And now let's talk timing. Isn't it interesting that Patagonia chose this exact moment in the height of anti-LGBTQ politics and attacks on the environment to sue me? They've known about me for eight years and the impact of this timing right now is serious and it's real and I think they looked at this political moment and thought they could pull this off without pushback. But if Patagonia wants to celebrate Pride Month this year by taking a queer climate activist to federal court, then I am here to fight for myself and I am here to fight for us.

[00:09:23]>> Furthermore, in the case of timing, we can also use another example of the drag queen Trixie Mattel. I've talked about her a lot on this channel. I love Trixie Mattel. I find her hilarious. And she has overtly discussed how she got the name Mattel from the Barbie toy brand Mattel? Like Barbies I grew up with as a kid as well.

[00:09:42]So, to me Mattel clearly are also going to be aware of this. I think even there has been some open discussion about this as far as I can see.

[00:09:52]But obviously, I mean, you could argue Trixie Mattel isn't selling Barbie dolls named Trixie Mattel which would encroach on certain trademark infringement, I'm sure. But there must be some kind of ongoing settlement between the two brands that are coexisting with each other. It also does look like between Patagonia and Patagonia they have had a similar agreement. There have been discussions ongoing.

[00:10:16]So, it only falls on now as to why Patagonia decided to break that mutual trust and take further action to protect their trademark. It's my opinion that that's a choice and not a great one as well for the wider marketing frame of things, but we'll get back to that. The outdoor clothing brand made a PR-based announcement as to why they've made this decision. So, let's take a look at what they said.

[00:10:42]>> Protecting our brand, update on trademark activity. Today, Patagonia filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the entrepreneur, drag queen, and activist Pattie Gonia. While we wish we didn't have to do this and actively engaged with Pattie for several years to avoid this, it has become necessary to protect the brand we've spent the last 50 years building. We're not against our creative expression or commentary about our brand. We want Pattie to have a long and successful career and make progress on the issues that matter, but in a way that respects Patagonia's intellectual property and ability to use our brand to sell products and advocate for the environment. For more than 3 years, Patagonia engaged in open dialogue with Pattie Gonia to discuss ways she could continue her environmental and social advocacy, brand deals, and other work without infringing on our trademarks. We thought we'd reached an agreement, and for a while it worked. Unfortunately, in late 2024, Pattigonia started selling Pattigonia brand apparel and continued to create and use versions of our logo.

[00:11:53]Our outreach to Patti asking her to stick to our agreement was refused. A subsequent note asking to discuss potential ways to go forward got no response. Then, in September 2025, Pattigonia filed a trademark application seeking the exclusive rights to use the brand Pattigonia to sell clothing and apparel, promote environmental activism, engage in online marketing and endorsements, and more. These rights would directly overlap with work we do in the products we provide, for which we have long-standing rights and trademark registrations. Pattigonia, as well, has also finally come out and said her side of the story, releasing a clip about everything that's happened, as well as some statements on her Instagram.

[00:12:21]>> Today, I'm breaking my silence about the lawsuit that the multi-billion-dollar corporation Pattigonia has filed against me, a drag queen and climate activist, for trademark infringement. Pattigonia told the media they're only suing me for a dollar. What they're actually trying to do is to take away my name permanently and threaten me with more than 1 million dollars in legal fees.

[00:12:43]This is not a brand conflict. This is a corporation trying to erase an activist.

[00:12:48]And this is how corporations bully individuals who cannot match their resources because this would take away not only my activism and my career, but also the livelihoods of the team I employ.

[00:13:00]This is a betrayal of Pattigonia's core mission because if they're in business to save the home planet, why are they suing a climate activist? I filed my trademark application not to compete with a multi-billion-dollar corporation, but because of what happened to a drag queen named Lexi Love, whose name was taken from her by a third party after RuPaul's Drag Race. Within weeks, her bookings were canceled, music pulled, social media gone. I filed to make sure that that never happened to me. Not because of Patagonia, because of anyone.

[00:13:31]Over the last 4 months since the lawsuit was filed, I've stayed silent, courteous, and worked every channel I could to resolve this without going to court. But in the end I had two choices, the erasure of my name, my advocacy, my community, and everyone I employ, or to fight for myself and to fight for us.

[00:13:49]So, I am fighting and I'm inviting you to join me in a simple call to action.

[00:13:54]Patagonia, drop the lawsuit.

[00:13:57]>> Open letter to Patagonia Inc. Now, after 8 years, some executives at your company and your outside lawyers have decided that I must cease to exist. If your executives and lawyers continue to pursue this lawsuit, it will make one thing clear.

[00:14:11]They are willing to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to grind me down so far that I can't continue to operate.

[00:14:17]Let's make peace and get back to our common love of the planet, including our namesake region in South America named Patagonia.

[00:14:24]With love and hope, I ask you intervene and drop this lawsuit.

[00:14:28]Patty.

[00:14:29]I also found this from Mercury Stardust, who's the kind of handy ma'am influencer who I love, by the way. And she's also saying the kind of quiet part that maybe Patty Gonia can't herself say because she's obviously involved in this lawsuit. So, she's adding maybe a little bit more context as well, which I think is very important too.

[00:14:47]>> I'm going to get mad because my friend Patty cannot. So, let me get mad on her behalf. Patty never sold this on her website. She never used it as her logo.

[00:14:58]She didn't do any of those things. This is fan art. Anyone who's claiming otherwise is a liar. Now, for the last 8 years, this drag performer has been performing underneath this name and has been making nationwide headlines as since 2019.

[00:15:17]She's raised $3.5 million others nonprofit organizations. Last fall, Patti Gonia decided to take a bunch of recycled t-shirts from thrift stores that could not be sold, and she started screen printing these type of things onto the shirts. Then, all of the sudden, Patagonia starts having an issue with it.

[00:15:40]>> That's why if you go on Patagonia's Instagram page, on their latest post, all you can see is people calling for them to drop the lawsuit.

[00:15:48]>> Patagonia has a responsibility to protect the company that generations of employees have helped build, not because a name matters more than people, but because that name carries trust, purpose, and decades of work connected to environmental activism, product storytelling, and community impact.

[00:16:08]Protecting the Patagonia trademark is part of protecting the ability of this company to continue doing that work in the future. This matter is not about seeking financial gain, nor is it about challenging anyone's identity or right to advocacy, protest, or creative expression. The last thing we wanted was a legal fight with someone who shares our values, but we must protect our business and employees.

[00:16:35]>> And, as requested by Patagonia, I also added to this asking for them to respectfully drop the lawsuit. To me, this is also why I believe they've made a huge mistake, purely from a marketing point of view before we even get into the efficacy of all of this, which I obviously don't agree with, and the wider frame of of trademarking in general.

[00:16:56]I do find that like the risk of the Barbra Streisand effect of this becoming a huge discussion, which it kind of already has, a week before Pride Month, or even if finally started this in January, regardless as to when it was in the year, the chance of this becoming a wider discussion and the public opinion not being on their side of suing a climate activist, surely had to have been one of their considerations, which means if it was, in my opinion, then they decided to do this anyway. And the risks to their brand are far going to outweigh, in my opinion, the potential loss that they're claiming that's happened because Patty Gonia up-sold a few t-shirts and put a different logo on them. Like, surely that was a discussion in the boardroom.

[00:17:37]If not, then like what you're doing?

[00:17:39]They should replace their team, in my opinion, ASAP. The reason being is because Patagonia claims to be supporting I actually can't help but laugh when I saw this. I gasped.

[00:17:50]On the website, it claims to be supporting grassroots activism. It supports acting against the climate change crisis. It's part of their whole entire brand. And yet they're suing a drag queen that has similar messaging to them because of a trademark infringement.

[00:18:04]Apparently, irreparable harm was made to their sales, which I would love to see the evidence of. Like, drop the receipts, Patagonia. Like, we all want to see like what money have you lost from this? And does that alleged loss of income outweigh the potential risk to your brand by suing a a drag queen? Like, really? Does it really? Or is it just now, potentially in Trump's administration, a good time to do something you've been wanting to do for years, but you never felt it was the right time. Now you do, and now you feel it was the right time. So, it's up to the public to show them that no, it isn't. The administration in the US may have changed, and the world may be falling into fascism, but the general popular opinion isn't in agreement with that. We're boycotting AI. We say free Palestine, and we don't want the climate crisis to happen. Just because corporations are winning because they have more money doesn't mean that they are in the right. So, even if they have legitimate grounds for a lawsuit, even if, that doesn't mean that it's necessary a net positive for them to do this. Imagine if they win, and they prevent Patagonia from further action.

[00:19:05]She has to make a new name or close her business entirely and fire a bunch of employees.

[00:19:10]Do they not realize that the fans of Patti Gonia are going to absolutely call for an active boycott of the brand and that's going to be much louder and potentially heard by so many more people that the harm to their brand is going to be far more irreparable and from their own actions. I don't know. Sometimes I just think corporations get so greedy they forget to make any sense. It also to me feels like the clear difference between activists that actually go out and make the world a better place and they call for change and they're not scared to say the scary things that aren't popular on YouTube and social platforms compared to corporations and brands that understand that that marketing can make them a lot of money and make them popular, but they don't necessarily hold themselves to the same accountability of standing by those values.

[00:19:54]>> You see this flag behind me? They built the whole machine to try to stop it.

[00:19:59]They built the border. They built the pipeline. They built the closet. Same carpenters, same nails. It's our duty to outlive them because if your freedom doesn't set someone else free, then really it's just another cage.

[00:20:17]So they come for our books. They come for our ballots. They come for our bodies, but they forgot one thing.

[00:20:25]We have each other.

[00:20:29]My name is Patti Gonia.

[00:20:32]>> [music] >> I'm here to remind you that it's better to be a than a fake >> Honestly, in my opinion, the best option would have been to work with Patti Gonia and come come out with some kind of collaboration and work together and share the profits. Like there are so many other alternatives than suing someone for trademark infringement that I think anyone suggesting that what they're doing is is valid maybe just doesn't understand the arsenal of options they had in front of them. And to me, it goes to a wider discussion about LGBTQIA+ people creating art and adding to culture and still having to fight against corporations that benefit from such.

[00:21:16]Pattie Gonia is a fantastic play on words. She's an amazing drag queen and she's done so much for the climate crisis and raising awareness of several issues.

[00:21:26]So, if Patagonia as an outdoor clothing brand really does want to stand on its main brand ethos, to which by the way it makes money. So, it's not just like saying something, it's making money based on people buying into their marketing.

[00:21:39]There's so much to be said about how they are throwing a an actual LGBTQI+ creator under the bus to maintain their brand, which is the exact opposite of what their branding says they should be doing.

[00:21:51]>> So, Patagonia leadership, I want to speak directly to you. In 2022, your founder, Yvon Chouinard, gave the company away to the planet to fight the climate crisis, transferring control into what's called a purpose trust. So, I want to ask the people currently running the company a genuine question.

[00:22:10]Is this what he had in mind? Is spending the resources of that trust on lawyers and federal court filings to erase a climate activist saving the home planet?

[00:22:18]Is this what he and his children, who now sit in leadership positions on the board and the purpose trust, believe they built? And you know, Yvon Chouinard said something that I think his current leadership needs to hear loud and clear right now. And I quote, "You are what you do, not what you say you are."

[00:22:36]That's not my quote, that's his. And if this lawsuit is what saving the planet looks like to Patagonia's current leadership, then one of us has profoundly misunderstood the assignment and it is not me.

[00:22:47]>> In my personal opinion, Patagonia would benefit from dropping the lawsuit and I hope that Pattie Gonia continues to be able to do the activism that they're doing successfully.

[00:22:57]I'm going to wrap it up there, but before I go, go Go check out the new podcast I've started with several other amazing leftist creators. We've got Bridget Empire, So Money, Swolesome, and hopefully Turd joining very soon as well. And all five of us are starting a new left-leaning podcast where we're going to cover stuff like this as well as other similar situations to what Patagonia would in fact support herself. Maybe we'll even try and get her on as a guest host. If you get in touch, Patty, if you see this, come and join the podcast. We just started it, but you'd be the perfect guest to discuss all of this.

[00:23:29]>> [laughter] >> I'll drop a link in the description to the podcast if you want to go and check it out and subscribe so you can see the next episodes when they come out. Please go ahead and do so.

[00:23:38]Otherwise, thank you so much for sticking around to the end. I hope this was informative and now you know what's going on all over TikTok and Instagram.

[00:23:46]Um yeah, good luck to Patty. I think what she's doing is amazing and I hope that she She's actually voiced how like scared she is, which is really sad to see, and I hope she is doing okay and that the employees of the company are all happy and safe and that everything continues to be able to go accordingly and that Patagonia dropped the lawsuit.

[00:24:02]Thank you so much for sticking around to the end. I love you all so much. Take care of yourselves and I will see you in the next one. I am going to be working on a huge project from this point. So, if I don't drop anything other than the podcast over the next few days, something big is coming, trust me. Uh so, stick around for that. I love you all so much. Take care of yourselves.

[00:24:19]See you in the next one. Bye.