Shannon ‘SJ’ Joslin among group who hung 66ft flag on El Capitan as others could face prosecution under protest laws
Shannon ‘SJ’ Joslin among group who hung 66ft flag on El Capitan as others could face prosecution under protest laws
A Yosemite national park ranger was fired after hanging a pride flag from El Capitan, while some park visitors could face prosecution under protest restrictions that have been tightened under Donald Trump.
Shannon “SJ” Joslin, a ranger and biologist who studies bats, said they hung a 66ft-wide transgender pride flag on the famous climbing wall that looms over the California park’s main thoroughfare for about two hours on 20 May 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 non-binary,” Joslin, 35, told the Associated Press, adding that hanging the flag was their way of saying: “We’re all safe in national parks.”
Joslin said their 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 US 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”, National Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz said.
