Yosemite Park Ranger Who Was Fired After Hanging Transgender Flag Files Lawsuit

A Yosemite National Park ranger and biologist who was fired last year after hanging a transgender pride flag on El Capitan has filed a civil rights lawsuit against the Department of the Interior.

Last spring, SJ Joslin and several others lugged the 58-pound flag up the imposing granite wall and flew it on a heart-shaped feature of the rock for several hours. Joslin did so in an off-duty capacity, they said in an interview with KQED last year.

Then, in August, Joslin received a termination letter, which said they had “failed to demonstrate acceptable conduct.” At the time, a National Park Service representative told KQED it was “pursuing administrative action against multiple employees for failing to follow National Park Service regulations” and that there had been multiple “unauthorized demonstrations involving El Capitan,” which require a permit.

Joslin told KQED in August that flying the flag was not a demonstration but a celebration of their transgender identity. They criticized the park service for taking action against them but not others who have similarly displayed flags on the prominent rock wall facing Yosemite Valley.

The complaint, filed on Monday, points out a “tradition” of flying flags across Yosemite — none of which, to Joslin and her team’s knowledge, have led to any legal or other consequences.

“Nobody had ever been disciplined before, much less fired and subject to criminal investigation,” said Paula Dinerstein, senior counsel at Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility, which is representing Joslin.

The question of whether or not it was a demonstration also doesn’t matter, Dinerstein said, because Joslin’s First Amendment rights were violated.

“Our claim is that the only reason that SJ and their fellow climbers were singled out was because of the message affirming transgender rights,” she said.

The lawsuit also alleges that Joslin’s rights under the Privacy Act were violated, stemming from claims that the National Park Service’s records describing Joslin’s actions include false or harmful information, Dinerstein said.

While the Department of the Interior would not comment on the specific case, a spokesperson emphasized in a statement to KQED that department officials “take the protection of the park’s resources and the experience of our visitors very seriously and will not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that impact those resources and experiences.”

“No matter the cause, demonstrating without a permit outside of designated First-Amendment areas detracts from the visitor experience and the protection of the park,” the statement said. “To safeguard the protection of visitors, visitor experiences, and park resources, many demonstrations require a permit.”

Dinerstein also noted that the National Park Service told Joslin it had opened a criminal investigation, which the complaint in the suit calls part of a “vindictive campaign” that “continues to chill their expressive conduct and speech.”

Dinerstein said that because they filed a preliminary injunction, the parties are meeting now with lawyers from the Department of the Interior to set a schedule to begin legal proceedings.