A Yosemite National Park ranger was fired after hanging a transgender pride flag from El Capitan while some park visitors could face prosecution for illegal protests.
Shannon “SJ” Joslin, a ranger and biologist who studies bats, said they/them hung a hguge 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. 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.
Park officials on Tuesday said they were working with the U.S. Justice Department to pursue visitors and workers who violated restrictions on protests 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,” National Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said.
Joslin said a group of seven climbers including two other park rangers hung the transgender flag. The other rangers are on administrative leave pending an investigation, Joslin 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.
Park officials said the new restriction was needed to preserve Yosemite’s wilderness and protect climbers.
“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.
It followed a widely publicized instance in February of demonstrators hanging an upside down American flag on El Capitan to protest the firing of National Park Service employees by the Trump administration.
Among the climbers who helped hang the transgender flag was Pattie Gonia, an environmentalist and drag queen who uses the performance art to raise awareness of conservation issues. For the past five years, Gonia has helped throw a Pride event in Yosemite for park employees.
She said they hung the transgender flag on the iconic granite monolith to express that being transgender is natural.
This year, Trump signed an executive order changing the federal definition of sex to exclude the concept of gender identity. He also banned trans women from competing with biological women in sports, removed transgendered people from the military, and limited access to sex changes and sex altering drugs to minors.
Pawlitz said numerous visitors complained about unauthorized demonstrations on El Capitan earlier in the year.
Many parks have designated “First Amendment areas” where groups 25 or fewer people can protest without permits. Yosemite has several of those areas, including one in Yosemite Valley, where El Capitan is located.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.