Nonbinary Yosemite ranger says government is trying to scare federal workers into silencehttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2026/03/nonbinary-yosemite-ranger-says-government-is-trying-to-scare-federal-workers-into-silence/ 🔗John Russell (9 March 2026)
The nonbinary Yosemite National Park ranger who was fired last year for hanging a transgender Pride flag at the park's El Capitan rock formation says their dismissal is part of a broader pattern of intimidation aimed at both federal employees and the trans community.
Joslin is speaking out after filing a federal lawsuit late last month accusing the National Park Service and other federal agencies of "illegal and unconstitutional" retaliation for their First Amendment-protected speech.
Last May, Joslin and six other climbers, including two other park rangers and the environmentalist drag queen Pattie Gonia, scaled El Capitan to hang a trans Pride flag... according to advocacy group Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), there is no record prior to Joslin's of disciplinary action or sanction for hanging a flag at "El Cap", let alone a termination or criminal investigation.
"There's been no problem with hanging flags up until this point," Joslin said. "It's been something that climbers have been doing since humans have been climbing El Cap."
The day after Joslin and the other climbers hung and later removed the trans flag, Yosemite Superintendent Ray McPadden announced a ban on "any banner, flag, or sign larger than fifteen square feet" from any of the park's "natural or cultural feature(s)" without a permit. A week later, Joslin and two other National Park Service (NPS) employees were informed that the agency had opened a criminal investigation into their actions, despite the fact that they had broken no law and had not violated any park regulation at the time.
