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Activists unfurl trans pride flag on iconic Yosemite cliff. ‘Hate is unnatural'
Led by the popular drag queen and environmentalist Pattie Gonia, the group climbed El Capitan with a giant pastel pink, sky blue and white transgender pride flag and displayed it across the cliff face early Tuesday, May 20.
'Some carry hate. We carry the largest trans pride flag to ever be flown in a national park and unfurled it on the side of El Cap to prove a point: that trans is natural,' the drag queen said in a video shared to their Instagram page. 'The Trump administration and transphobes would love to have you believe that being trans is unnatural. But species that can transition sexes can be found on every continent and in every ocean on planet earth. So call it a protest. Call it a celebration. We are bringing elevation to liberation. '
The display was a way to honor and uphold transgender identity, Pattie Gonia said in the video, while protesting the White House's attempts to erase it from society altogether.
'They try to erase us from government websites and education systems and libraries. So we raise this flag higher than ever before so every trans person knows that they have people that love them in their corner,' she said. 'The people united will never be defeated.'
A spokesperson for Yosemite National Park told McClatchy News in a statement that 'the flag was removed as soon as possible.'
'The National Park Service is conducting an inquiry into the facts and circumstances around this event. We take the protection of our national parks seriously and will not tolerate behavior that undermines their integrity,' the spokesperson said.
Less than a month into President Donald Trump's second term, he signed an executive order calling for federal agencies to wipe out any acknowledgment of transgender, intersex, and nonbinary people on federal identification documents, McClatchy News previously reported.
The move to erase trans and gender-expansive people from official documentation was part of a larger effort by the Trump administration to push back against what it called 'ideologues who deny the biological reality of sex,' McClatchy News reported.
As a result, federal agencies removed any mention of trans, intersex, and nonbinary people from government websites, NBC News reported.
'A page on the State Department's website that had … provided information for 'LGBTQI Travelers' now addresses only 'LGB Travelers,'' the outlet reported. 'Similarly, a State Department web page providing 'Resources for LGBTQI+ Prospective Adoptive Parents' now just says 'LGB Prospective Adoptive Parents.''
That same change was also implemented on independent federal agency websites such as the Social Security Administration, the outlet reported.
Hundreds of people commented on Pattie Gonia's video with messages of hope and support.
'Hate is unnatural,' someone said.
Several mentioned their favorite species found in nature — from plants and trees to several species of fish including the iconic clownfish — that defy the gender binary.
Some also shared their experience as parents of transgender children.
'As a mama bear this makes my heart a little lighter,' someone said, including the trans pride flag emoji in the comment to indicate their child is trans. 'It's scary out there, and all I want for my baby is health and happiness. To be loved and accepted. And that's all she wants. Or if not to be accepted by all, to at least be left in peace. That's it. There's no 'agenda.' Trans is beautiful.'
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