Reinstate Dr. Shannon Joslin and Support LGBTQ+ Park Staff and Visitors!

On their own free time, SJ and six others climbed El Capitan in Yosemite and took part in a tradition of hanging a flag at the top. 

They never thought the display of acceptance and love would result in their losing their job. But in an effort to make an example out of them, the Trump administration is not only firing SJ, they are threatening criminal charges.

Hanging flags off El Capitan has occurred in the past without consequences. In February, demonstrators hung an upside-down U.S. flag, often symbolizing a distress call, on El Capitan to draw attention to the mass firings by the Trump administration. And last year, a group “Climbers with Palestine” hung a flag in protest of the war on Gaza. 

But the Trump administration has tightened restrictions around protest in an effort to suppress speech criticizing the government. And the day after the trans flag was displayed on El Capitan, Yosemite’s acting superintendent Ray McPadden signed a rule prohibiting people from hanging large banners, flags, or signs in nearly all areas of the park.

Under Trump, the federal government has ramped up anti-LGBTQ+ policies, and the Park Service is no exception. The department has discouraged staff from participating in Pride events and stripped references to “transgender,” “bisexual,” and “queer” from the Stonewall website. SJ’s firing is a continuation of this administration's hostilities toward the LGBTQ+ community—sending a clear message to NPS staff that they, too, could lose their job for speaking out in support of LGBTQ+ rights.