A federal judge said Friday that she does not have the power to order the reinstatement of a Yosemite park ranger who was dismissed last summer after displaying a transgender pride flag while off duty.
Shannon “SJ” Joslin, who identifies as nonbinary, filed suit earlier this year against the Department of the Interior — the parent agency of the National Park Service — after being terminated for helping hang the flag from Yosemite’s El Capitan rock face in California in 2023.
In the lawsuit, the former ranger asked the Biden-appointed judge to restore Joslin to the job and block the federal government from pursuing any criminal investigation tied to the incident.
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Shannon “SJ” Joslin, the former park ranger, was among a group that unfurled a trans pride flag at Yosemite last summer. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle)
Joslin contended in court filings that federal officials “selectively” applied agency rules because of the message conveyed by the pride flag. The lawsuit further argued that the firing was “vindictive, retaliatory, [and] intended to communicate disapproval of a particular point of view.”
U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston wrote in her ruling obtained by News Agency: “The government claims for its part that Joslin was fired for reasons that had ‘nothing to do’ with “speech,” adding, “But the government has another more fundamental and more persuasive point: under the laws that Congress has passed, and under the legal precedent that a federal trial court must follow, this Court does not have authority to decide whether Joslin was fired for unconstitutional or illegal reasons, nor to block a hypothetical criminal case against them.”
Thurston wrote that the government motion to dismiss was granted and Joslin’s motion for a preliminary injunction was denied.
Joslin wrote an Instagram post after the firing that they were fired from the park “for practicing my First Amendment right” after hanging the 55-foot by 35-foot flag across Yosemite’s iconic rock destination in May 2025.
“I was fired by the temporary Deputy Superintendent for ‘failing to demonstrate acceptable conduct’ in my capacity as a Wildlife Biologist for the park. No part of hanging the flag was done on work time. NOTHING about it had anything to do with my work,” Joslin wrote.
A Yosemite National Park sign is seen in El Portal, Calif., on Oct. 31, 2025. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)
Joslin flew the flag for about two hours before taking it down and added that after decades of the practice, “no one” had ever been punished for hanging a flag across El Capitan prior to last week.
“I want my rights and I want my career back,” Joslin said.
The Interior Department told News Agency on Friday after the ruling: “We 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.
A close-up shows the carved National Park Service logo in San Francisco, Calif. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Yosemite National Park was designated by Congress to highlight the beautiful natural and cultural features of the area. 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. To safeguard the protection of visitors, visitor experiences, and park resources, many demonstrations require a permit.”
News Agency has reached out to the Civil Service Law Center, which represents Joslin, for comment.
