2 days ago
U.S. park ranger fired for flying trans flag on Yosemite rock face
A staff member at Yosemite National Park has been fired for hanging a transgender pride flag on the rock face of an iconic landmark.
Shannon 'SJ' Joslin, 35, who is trans and uses they/them pronouns, was fired from their job as a park ranger and wildlife biologist on Aug. 12 after they, along with a few others, attached the flag to the El Capitan rock formation in May.
Joslin, who says their passion is environmental preservation, had been working in the park since 2021 and described the role to NBC News as their 'dream job.'
They told the outlet that the park said it was terminating their role for failing 'to demonstrate acceptable conduct' by displaying the flag.
'I'm devastated,' Joslin said.
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'We don't take our positions in the park service to make money or to have any kind of huge career gains. We take it because we love the places that we work. I have a Ph.D. in bioinformatics, and I could be making a lot more money in Silicon Valley, which is only a few hours away, but I made career choices to position myself in Yosemite National Park, because this is the place that I love the most,' they explained.
According to a statement on Joslin's Instagram account, the flag was hung in a display of trans pride and to let people know that everyone is welcome at the park. It was hanging for approxiately two hours before they took it down themselves, the post says.
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About a week after the flag was removed, Joslin was informed that they were under criminal investigation for hanging the flag.
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'I hung the flag in my free time, off-duty, as a private citizen…El Capitan has had flags hung on it for decades and no one has EVER been punished for it. Only me,' Joslin wrote separately.
'I was fired by the temporary Deputy Superintendent for 'failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct' in my capacity as a Wildlife Biologist for the park. No part of hanging the flag was done on work time. NOTHING about it had anything to do with my work,' they added.
Joslin said they requested evidence from park authorities proving that hanging the flag display was an illegal demonstration, but said it did not provide any.
They also noted several instances of flags being flown by park employees.
An upside-down U.S. flag was flown in February in protest of the Trump administration's layoffs of National Park Service employees. In June, a group of activists flew a 'Stop the genocide' flag on El Capitan in support of Palestinians in Gaza.
In the last four and a half years, Joslin says they have volunteered additional hours to help shovel snow off bridges to ensure wheelchair users have access to the park and have become qualified as a wildland firefighter, swift water rescue technician, search-and-rescue technician and wilderness first responder to help manage emergencies that occur inside the park.
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They have also written Yosemite climbing guidebooks and managed the park's 'big wall bats' initiative, which studies how bats use cliffs to protect themselves from contracting a disease known as white-nose syndrome, which has killed more than five million bats in North America.
Joslin says they want their job back and that the termination of their role was in violation of Americans' First Amendment right to free speech.
'Preservation has been my life's work—of Yosemite, the wildlife, the land, recreation, of peoples rights and safety, of community and acceptance, and now the Constitutional First Amendment,' they wrote.
A spokesperson for Yosemite National Park told NBC News that the National Park Service (NPS), which oversees Yosemite, 'is pursuing administrative action against multiple National Park Service employees for failing to follow National Park Service regulations,' without specifying which employees had violated what rules.
Meanwhile, spokesperson for the NPS, Rachel Pawlitz, said that the park service and the U.S. Justice Department 'are pursuing administrative action against several Yosemite National Park employees and possible criminal charges against several park visitors who are alleged to have violated federal laws and regulations related to demonstrations.'
'We do not comment on the specifics of personnel actions or criminal investigations. However, we want to emphasize that we take the protection of the park's resources and the experience of our visitors very seriously, and will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact those resources and experiences,' Pawlitz said, before adding that demonstrations on park grounds usually require a permit.
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Joslin told NBC they decided to hang the flag on El Capitan after President Donald Trump signed multiple anti-trans executive orders, including ones that change the federal definition of sex to exclude trans identities, restrict trans people's access to gender-affirming care and prohibit trans women from participating in female sports.
