A park ranger, who teamed up with several LGBTQ activists, including MTV’s RuPaul’s Drag Race star Pattie Gonia, to hang a transgender flag on the famous El Capitan rock formation at Yosemite National Park, claimed to have been fired from her position.
In a post on Instagram from August 18, Shannon Joslin revealed that she had been fired from her job with the National Park Service (NPS) last week after she had “hung a trans flag on El Capitan” in May. Joslin added that she had done so in her “free time, off-duty, as a private citizen.”
The Daily Mail reported that Joslin, who identifies as being non-binary, “holds a PhD in genomics and studies bats.”
“Last week I was fired from my dream job as a permanent park ranger with the NPS for practicing my First Amendment right,” Joslin wrote. “In May I hung a trans flag on El Capitan that celebrate my acceptance of my identity. I hung the flag in my free time, off-duty, as a private citizen.”
Joslin added that the transgender flag had flown for roughly “two hours in the morning” before it was taken down.
“El Capitan has had flags hung on it for decades and no one has EVER been punished for it,” Joslin added. “Only me. 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 of work time.”
“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,” Joslin added. “I want my rights and I want my career back. So help me. Use your First Amendment right to broadcast my store as loudly and as widely as possible.”
Breitbart News reported in May that members from a “coalition of LGBTQ activist climbers” that are known as, “Trans Is Natural,” unfurled the flag, which was 55 feet by 35 feet, and hung it up “somewhere between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., 1,500 feet up El Capitan.”
The flag is 55 feet by 35 feet, making it the largest ever displayed atop the iconic rock El Capitan climbing destination, the group added.
The LGBTQ activists reportedly hung the massive trans flag up somewhere between 8:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m., 1,500 feet up El Capitan, where it remained displayed until around noon, when park officials ordered for it be removed.
Gonia issued a statement at the time, explaining that group had flown the transgender flag at Yosemite National Park “to make a statement,” adding that transgender people are “natural” and “loved,” NBC News reported.
“Let this flag fly higher than hate,” Gonia said. “We are done being polite about Trans people’s existence. Call it a protest, call it a celebration — either way, it’s giving elevation to liberation.”
An NPS spokesperson explained to PinkNews that NPS and the Department of Justice (DOJ) were “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.”
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