Shannon Joslin knew what could be coming when they were summoned to the deputy superintendent’s office at Yosemite National Park one afternoon in mid-August.
The 35-year-old biologist, who leads Yosemite’s bat research, had been under investigation for scaling the park’s famous El Capitan cliff face in May to hang a 55-by-35-foot, blue and pink transgender pride flag. On Aug. 12, Joslin said they were fired by acting Yosemite Deputy Superintendent Danika Globokar.
Joslin, who goes by SJ and uses they/them pronouns, was in their off time when they led a group of activists and friends to hang the flag in protest of the Trump administration’s efforts to purge references to transgender people from National Park Service websites and properties.
“I want[ed] to hang a huge trans flag in the heart of El Cap, because isn’t that amazing symbolism? You’re outside in nature. You have a flag of acceptance and identity for everyone,” Joslin said in a phone interview with POLITICO’s E&E News.
