A Yosemite National Park ranger was fired after hanging a pride flag from El Capitan while some visitors face potential prosecution for alleged violations of protest restrictions that have been tightened under President Trump. Shannon "SJ" Joslin, a ranger and biologist who studies bats, said they hung a 66-foot wide transgender pride flag on the famous climbing wall that looms over the California park's main thoroughfare for about two hours on May 20 before taking it down voluntarily. A termination letter they received last week accused Joslin of "failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct" in their capacity as a biologist and cited the May incident.
"I was really hurting because there were a lot of policies coming from the current administration that target trans people, and I'm nonbinary," Joslin, 35, told the AP, adding that hanging the flag was a way to "tell myself ... that we're all safe in national parks." Joslin said the firing sends the opposite message: "If you're a federal worker and you have any kind of identity that doesn't agree with this current administration, then you must be silent, or you will be eliminated."
Park officials on Tuesday said they were working with the Justice Department to pursue visitors and workers who violated restrictions on demonstrations at the park that had more than 4 million visitors last year. The agencies "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," NPS spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said. On May 21, a day after the flag display, Acting Superintendent Ray McPadden signed a rule prohibiting people from hanging banners, flags, or signs larger than 15 square feet in park areas designated as "wilderness" or "potential wilderness." That covers 94% of the park, according to Yosemite's website.
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Joslin said a group of seven climbers including two other park rangers hung the flag. The other rangers are on administrative leave pending an investigation, Joslin said. Flags have long been displayed from El Capitan without consequences, said Joanna Citron Day, a former federal attorney who is now with the advocacy group Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility. She said the group is representing Joslin, but there is no pending legal case.
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