By rssfeeds-admin 
On May 20, SJ Joslin joined others, while off duty, in a celebration of transgender identities by raising a Transgender Pride flag from El Capitan. The mountain served as a symbol, as a natural feature in the center of the west face of the mountain appears as a heart.
“I did not expect to lose my job over this,” Joslin said. “Being trans, being non-binary is not an ideology— it’s an identity. I’m not trying to impose any ideology on anyone, I’m just trying to celebrate who I am.”
Joslin has worked with the Yosemite National Park as a Wildlife Biologist since March 2021, having been instrumental in keeping data on the health of bats and endangered species in the environment.
“My supervisor is devastated. I was the only person in my work group who knew about the things we were doing as far as data management goes. I was the only supervisor in the bat program,” they said. “Just on a personal level, we’re a really tight community here in Yosemite and no one feels safe anymore. We all feel like it could be any of us for any reason.”
Joslin says for decades, flags of every kind have been draped across the historic monument, ranging from protests of climate change and “stop the genocide” to “happy birthday” displays and pirate flags.
“People would hang flags on their work time, off their work time— varying flags,” they said. “The two large flags both had employees that were associated with it, as well as our large trans flag, and there’s never been any recourse or disciplinary action as a result of any of the other flags.”
About a week after raising the trans flag, Joslin was notified they were under criminal investigation related to the hanging. Months later, on Aug. 12, they were let go.
“The charge that they are alleging is that we had a demonstration in a non-First Amendment area,” Joslin said. “I did look up what the proposed disciplinary action is if you have a demonstration in a non-First Amendment area, and the recommended action for a first-time offense is a written reprimand— not a termination.”
Joslin feels their termination sets a dangerous precedent as other federal workers could potentially be at risk for exercising their rights.
“We were given a lot of First Amendment rights as federal workers under the [Biden] administration, and despite Trump’s executive order on January 20 that said no federal agency will encroach on someone’s First Amendment right— that’s exactly what’s happening here,” Joslin expressed.
Despite political affiliations, Joslin says this is more than just about their trans identity; it’s a matter of limitations on an American citizen’s First Amendment right.
“Most of my family is highly conservative, and we love each other all the same. But this is something everyone should be concerned about because I understand it’s about a trans flag at this point, but it’s going to be about more things later on. It’s going to be a continuing of silencing people because one man, or administration, doesn’t approve of what you’re doing.”
SJ Joslin says that while they will be seeking legal counsel with PEER, they wish to return to nurturing the environment and serving the greater Yosemite area.
“I am hoping to get my job back, and I think that all of my colleagues are also hoping for me to get my job back.”
Juanita Adame contributed to this report.
Discover more from RSS Feeds Cloud
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.