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A judge ruled Friday that he does not have the authority to reinstate a park ranger who was fired from Yosemite last summer after flying a transpride flag on their day off.
Shannon “SJ” Joslin, who has come out as non-binary, sued the Department of the Interior, which includes the National Park Service, earlier this year after she was fired for hanging a flag from a rock formation in California’s El Capitan park last year.
The former security guard in their case asked a Biden-appointed judge to reinstate Joslin and prevent the government from launching a criminal investigation.
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Shannon “SJ” Joslin, a fired park ranger, was part of the group that unveiled the pride flag in Yosemite last summer. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle)
Joslin argued in court that the government “applied its laws selectively based on the message that the pride flag sends,” and that Joslin’s shooting was “retaliation, retaliation,” [and] it is intended to express disapproval of a certain point of view.”
US District Judge Jennifer Thurston wrote in her decision obtained by Fox News Digital: “The government says Joslin was fired for reasons ‘unrelated’ to “speech,” adding, “But the government has another very important and more influential point: under the laws passed by Congress, and under legal precedent that a federal court should not decide whether the Constitutional Court had jurisdiction to hear the case. unconstitutional or illegal reasons, or to prevent a presumptive criminal case against them.”
Thurston wrote that the government’s motion to dismiss was granted and Joslin’s motion to stay the original rule was granted.
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Joslin posted on Instagram after being kicked out of the park for “exercising my first amendment right” after hanging a 55-foot by 35-foot flag at Yosemite’s iconic landmark in May 2025.
“I was fired by the interim Deputy Superintendent for ‘failure to demonstrate acceptable behavior’ in my position as Wildlife Biologist for this park. No part of the flag hanging was done during work. NOTHING to do with my job,” Joslin wrote.
The 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 the flag over El Capitan before last week.
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“I want my rights and I want my job back,” Joslin said.
The Department of the Interior told Fox News Digital on Friday after the decision: “We take the protection of park facilities and the experience of our guests very seriously and will not tolerate violations of the rules and regulations affecting those facilities and information.
A zoom shows the National Park Service logo engraved in San Francisco, Calif. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)
Yosemite National Park was designated by Congress to highlight the natural and cultural beauty of the area. Regardless of the cause, unauthorized displays outside designated First Amendment areas interfere with the visitor experience and park protection. To protect visitor protection, visitor information, and park services, many exhibits require a permit.”
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Fox News Digital has contacted the Civil Service Law Center, which represents Joslin, for comment.
