‘Nonbinary’ Park Ranger Canned After Draping Transgender Flag On Cliff

Yosemite National Park fired ranger and wildlife biologist Shannon “SJ” Joslin on Aug. 12 over her role in draping a transgender pride flag over El Capitan in May, Joslin and park officials said.

The termination follows the high-profile climb in which activists unfurled a 55-by-35-foot banner as part of the “Trans is Natural” project before park staff ordered it removed; organizers claimed no rules were broken during the unfurling. (RELATED: Trans Activists Deface Yosemite National Park With Giant Pride Flag)

“I’m going to fight this tooth and nail,” Joslin told NBC News after being fired, calling the dispute a matter of free speech.

Joslin said Yosemite leadership told her that she “failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct” for participating in the display. The National Park Service (NPS) said it is pursuing administrative action against multiple employees and that the Justice Department is weighing possible criminal charges against several visitors tied to demonstrations in the park.

The May action was spread across social media by drag performer Pattie Gonia, whose video showed climbers hauling the flag up El Capitan.

“Some carry hate; we carry the largest trans pride flag ever flown in a national park and unfurled it on the side of El Cap to prove a point,” Gonia says in the clip.

NEW: Transgender activists have unveiled a massive trans flag at Yosemite National Park to teach President Trump a lesson.

The queers and transgenders want the world to know that being transgender is “natural.”

The flag was hung a whopping 1500 feet up the rock and spanned… pic.twitter.com/wpv3lOvfsu

— Collin Rugg (@CollinRugg) May 21, 2025

Organizers billed the display as a celebration of “trans belonging in nature,” and said Yosemite officials ordered the flag down around 11:30 a.m. Pacific “despite no rules having been broken,” NBC News reported.

An NPS spokesperson declined to specify which regulations employees allegedly violated in a statement to the outlet, but emphasized the agency “will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact [park] resources and experiences.” Most demonstrations require a permit, the agency said.

NBC reported Yosemite updated its Superintendent’s Compendium the day after the flag display to ban hanging large flags in wilderness areas; Joslin argued flags have long been hung on El Capitan without consequence.