California’s FRESNO (AP) Under President Donald Trump’s stricter protest regulations, some park visitors may risk prosecution, and a ranger was fired from Yosemite National Park for flying a pride flag from El Capitan.
“They hung a 66-foot wide transgender pride flag on the famous climbing wall that looms over the California park’s main thoroughfare for about two hours on May 20 before taking it down voluntarily,” said Shannon SJ Joslin, a ranger and bat scientist. They got a letter of termination last week, citing the May event and accusing Joslin of not acting in a way that was appropriate for a scientist.
Since I’m nonbinary and the current government has several laws that target trans people, I was in a lot of pain. Hanging the flag is their way of expressing, “We’re all safe in national parks,” Joslin, 35, told The Associated Press.
According to Joslin, their termination conveys the opposite message: Federal employees who disagree with the current administration in any way will be fired or forced to remain silent.
On Tuesday, park officials said that they were collaborating with the U.S. Justice Department to prosecute employees and tourists who disregarded the park’s demonstration regulations, which were observed by almost 4 million people last year.
According to National Park Service spokesperson Rachel Pawlitz, the agencies are pursuing administrative action against a number of Yosemite National Park staff members and potential criminal charges against a number of park visitors who are accused of breaking federal laws and regulations pertaining to protests.
According to Joslin, the flag was hung by a team of seven climbers, including two additional park rangers. According to Joslin, the other rangers are on administrative leave until an inquiry is conducted.
According to Joanna Citron Day, a former federal attorney who currently works for the advocacy organization Public Employees For Environmental Responsibility, flags have been flown from El Capitan for a long time without any repercussions. According to her, Joslin is being represented by the group, but there isn’t a court case ongoing.
A rule barring the hanging of banners, flags, or placards larger than 15 square feet in park areas designated as wilderness or potential wilderness was signed by Acting Superintendent Ray McPadden on May 21, the day following the flag display. According to the Yosemite website, that encompasses 94% of the park.
Parks officials defend restriction on protests
According to park officials, the new limitation was necessary to safeguard climbers and maintain Yosemite’s wilderness.
We take very seriously the preservation of the park’s resources and the experiences of its visitors, and we will not put up with infractions of the laws and rules that affect those things, Pawlitz stated.
It came after a highly reported incident in February when protesters hung an upside-down American flag atop El Capitan to express disapproval of the Trump administration’s termination of National Park Service staff.
Pattie Gonia, a drag queen and environmentalist who employs performance art to promote conservation concerns, was one of the climbers who assisted in hanging the transgender flag. Gonia has assisted in organizing a Pride celebration for Yosemite park staff for the last five years.
She claimed that in order to demonstrate that being transgender is normal, they put the transgender flag atop the famous granite monument.
Trump signed an executive order this year that removed the idea of gender identity from the statutory definition of sex. In addition, he expelled transgender individuals from the military, prohibited trans women from participating in women’s sports, and restricted access to care that is gender affirming.
Gonia referred to the dismissal as unfair. According to Joslin, they hung the flag as private citizens in their spare time.
According to Gonia, SJ is a well-respected cornerstone in the Yosemite community, a selfless volunteer who constantly goes above and beyond.
As the Trump administration seeks widespread cuts to the federal workforce, Jayson O. Neill of the advocacy organization Save Our Parks said Joslin’s termination seems to be intended to discourage park staff from voicing their opinions.
According to Bill Wade, executive director of the Association of National Park Rangers, the National Park Service has lost nearly 2,500 workers since Trump took office, out of a workforce of roughly 10,000. Next year, the Republican president wants to reduce the agency’s budget by $900 million.
Parks have First Amendment areas
Many tourists protested of illegal protests on El Capitan earlier in the year, according to Pawlitz.
There are First Amendment zones in several parks where groups of no more than 25 people are allowed to demonstrate without a permit. El Capitan is located in Yosemite Valley, one of numerous such locations in Yosemite.
Park service restrictions on demonstrations have lasted for decades and withstood many judicial challenges, Wade said. He was unaware that Trump has altered the way those regulations are applied.
