Yosemite ranger fired for hanging pride flag at El Capitan

A Yosemite National Park ranger has been fired and other activists could face charges after hanging a massive transgender pride flag from the world-renowned El Capitan rock formation earlier this year.

Shannon "SJ" Joslin, a biologist who studies bats and identifies as nonbinary, told The Associated Press that they received a termination letter last week for "failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct," after helping a group raise the 66-foot blue, pink and white flag for about two hours on May 20.

Joslin said they were not on duty while hanging the flag and were acting as a private citizen.

"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," Joslin told the AP.

Joslin said the flag was meant to signal a message to park-goers: "We're all safe in national parks."

"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 said.

Yosemite National Park updated its rulebook shortly after the transgender pride flag was flown to ban flags larger than 15 square feet from certain areas, including on El Capitan.

"This restriction is necessary to preserve the values of wilderness character in accordance with the Wilderness Act, provide for an unimpaired visitor experience, protect natural and cultural resources in designated Wilderness and Potential Wilderness Addition portions of the park," the updated rule states. "This restriction is also necessary to maintain public safety, as it prohibits draping items that could endanger and interfere with permitted or allowable unpermitted climbing activity."

The National Park Service (NPS) and Department of Interior didn't immediately respond to The Hill's requests for comment.

An NPS spokesperson told the AP that authorities "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."

President Trump has taken several measures to roll back policies that supported transgender and nonbinary people, beginning with an executive order in January federally recognizing only two sexes, male and female. His administration also has sought to end diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives for minority groups.

The Yosemite landscape has been the site of similar flag protests in the past, including ones against the federal government. Climbers hung a banner last year that read "STOP THE GENOCIDE" in protest of the ongoing war in Gaza.

Park rangers lifted an upside-down American flag — known as a signal of distress — from the mountain in February as the Trump administration slashed NPS funding.

Jackie Ostfeld, director of the Sierra Club's Outdoors for All campaign, said in a statement that criminal charges "would be an act of intimidation intended to have a chilling effect on others exercising their rights."

"El Capitan has frequently been used as a site for demonstrations of free speech," Ostfeld said. "National parks help tell the story of America, and essential to that story is the freedom of speech.”