Park ranger fired after helping drape a transgender pride flag on Yosemite's El Capitanhttps://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/park-ranger-fired-after-helping-drape-a-transgender-pride-flag-on-yosemite-s-el-capitan/ar-AA1KL9vz?ocid=hpmsn&cvid=61b3d3ead9d34428e9f4c7bfd620b731&ei=37Story by Jo Yurcaba (18 Aug 2025)
Yosemite National Park fired a park ranger last week for hanging a transgender pride flag on the park's iconic El Capitan rock formation in May.
Shannon "SJ" Joslin, who has been a ranger and a wildlife biologist in the park since 2021, said they were fired Aug. 12 from what they described as their dream job. They said park leadership told them they "failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct" in their role by participating in the trans flag display.
Joslin said the flag display, which they organized with other LGBTQ climbers and advocates and participated in outside of work hours, was intended to celebrate trans people and show that everyone is welcome in the nation's parks.
There was no policy prohibiting the display of flags on El Capitan until the day after Joslin and their team hung the trans flag, when the National Park Service issued a new rule banning the hanging of large flags in wilderness areas.
"Hanging flags has been a tradition that climbers have done on El Cap for decades, and that's both individuals who are visiting the park, but also employees that are on their off time," Joslin said. "There's never been any kind of ramifications to any of those flag hanging activities. I'm the only one who's been fired for it."
