Federal judge rules she lacks authority to reinstate fired Yosemite ranger who flew trans pride flag

A national justice ruled connected Friday that she has nary authorization to reinstate a parkland ranger who was fired from Yosemite past summertime aft flying a trans pridefulness emblem connected their time off.

Shannon "SJ" Joslin, who identifies arsenic nonbinary, sued the Department of the Interior, which includes the National Park Service, earlier this twelvemonth aft being fired for hanging the emblem crossed the park’s El Capitan stone enactment in California last year.

The erstwhile ranger successful their suit asked the Biden-appointed justice to reinstate Joslin and to support the authorities from launching a transgression investigation.

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Shannon "SJ" Joslin, a fired parkland ranger, was portion of a radical who unfurled a trans pridefulness emblem astatine Yosemite past summer. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle)

Joslin had argued successful the suit that the authorities had "enforced its rules selectively based connected the connection that the pridefulness emblem sends," and that Joslin’s firing was "vindictive, retaliatory, [and] intended to pass disapproval of a peculiar constituent of view."

U.S. District Judge Jennifer Thurston wrote successful her ruling obtained by Fox News Digital: "The authorities claims for its portion that Joslin was fired for reasons that had ‘nothing to do’ with "speech," adding, "But the authorities has different much cardinal and much persuasive point: nether the laws that Congress has passed, and nether the ineligible precedent that a national proceedings tribunal indispensable follow, this Court does not person authorization to determine whether Joslin was fired for unconstitutional oregon amerciable reasons, nor to artifact a hypothetical transgression lawsuit against them."

Thurston wrote that the authorities question to disregard was granted and Joslin’s question for a preliminary injunction was denied.

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Joslin wrote an Instagram post after the firing that they were fired from the parkland "for practicing my First Amendment right" aft hanging the 55-foot by 35-foot emblem crossed Yosemite’s iconic stone destination successful May 2025.

"I was fired by the impermanent Deputy Superintendent for ‘failing to show acceptable conduct’ successful my capableness arsenic a Wildlife Biologist for the park. No portion of hanging the emblem was done connected enactment time. NOTHING astir it had thing to bash with my work," Joslin wrote.

A Yosemite National Park motion is seen successful El Portal, Calif., connected Oct. 31, 2025. (Stephen Lam/San Francisco Chronicle via Getty Images)

Joslin flew the emblem for astir 2 hours earlier taking it down and added that aft decades of the practice, "no one" had ever been punished for hanging a emblem crossed El Capitan anterior to past week.

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"I privation my rights and I privation my vocation back," Joslin said.

The Interior Department told Fox News Digital connected Friday aft the ruling: "We instrumentality the extortion of the park's resources and the acquisition of our visitors precise earnestly and volition not tolerate violations of laws and regulations that interaction those resources and experiences.

A close-up shows the carved National Park Service logo successful San Francisco, Calif. (Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images)

Yosemite National Park was designated by Congress to item the beauteous earthy and taste features of the area. No substance the cause, demonstrating without a licence extracurricular of designated First-Amendment areas detracts from the visitant acquisition and the extortion of the park. To safeguard the extortion of visitors, visitant experiences, and parkland resources, galore demonstrations necessitate a permit."

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Fox News Digital has reached retired to the Civil Service Law Center, which represents Joslin, for comment.