A Yosemite National Park ranger lost their job after hanging a transgender pride flag on the park's El Capitan rock formation. They hung the flag back in May but was fired last week.
Since 2021, Shannon "SJ" Joslin has worked at Yosemite, according to NBC News. However, park management let them go on August 12 after hey "failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct." Joslin is transgender and uses they/them pronouns.
"I'm devastated," said Joslin. "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."
Following the termination, a spokesperson for Yosemite National Park said the National Park Service opened up about the decision. The spokesperson said they are "pursuing administrative action against multiple National Park Service employees for failing to follow National Park Service regulations."
Yosemite Fires Park Ranger
Rachel Pawlitz, a spokesperson for the NPS, said the parks agency and the 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."
Pawlitz added, "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."
Meanwhile, Joslin said they hung the trans pride flag to protest anti-transgender orders by President Donald Trump. According to Joslin, there was no policy prohibiting the display of flags on El Capitan when they hung the flag. However, a policy change came the day after.
"Hanging flags has been a tradition that climbers have done on El Cap for decades, and that's both individuals who are visiting the park, but also employees that are on their off time," Joslin said. "There's never been any kind of ramifications to any of those flag hanging activities. I'm the only one who's been fired for it."
