A National Park Service biologist who was fired for hanging a transgender pride flag on El Capitan in Yosemite National Park has sued the Interior Department for wrongful termination.
Dr. Shannon “SJ” Joslin filed the lawsuit (attached below) Monday in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, citing a violation of their First Amendment rights and violations of the Privacy Act.
In August 2025, the Park Service, together with the Department of Justice, targeted Joslin for exercising their First Amendment rights, said a release from Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility.
In May of that year, during their time off from work, Joslin and fellow rock climbers unfurled a transgender pride flag on El Capitan for less than three hours before voluntarily taking it down. For this expression of free speech, Joslin was summarily fired and then, in a significant escalation, criminally investigated.
PEER's release said that for decades, climbers at Yosemite have expressed messages—political and non-political—from the iconic rock formation El Capitan. Prior to the action against Joslin, there is no record of anyone ever disciplined or sanctioned for hanging flags on El Capitan, let alone fired and criminally investigated, the release added.
"The vindictive campaign violated Dr. Joslin’s First Amendment and Privacy Act rights and continues to chill their expressive conduct and speech," the release stated. "Along with the lawsuit, Dr. Joslin filed a motion for preliminary injunction asking for reinstatement and enjoining criminal enforcement for speech at Yosemite supporting transgender rights."
“This administration is targeting Dr. Joslin because it wants to scare people into silence,” said Joanna Citron Day, PEER's general counsel and one of the attorneys representing Joslin. “Dr. Joslin exercised their First Amendment rights and is being punished to send a clear message—speech the administration doesn’t like will not be tolerated. Dr. Joslin was illegally fired and should be reinstated immediately.”
“If Dr. Joslin had hung a flag the administration liked, they would be working at Yosemite today,” said Clayton Bailey, founding partner at Civil Service Law Center LLP and co-counsel on the case. “That reality is totally antithetical to the basic First Amendment freedoms promised to everyone.”
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