Ah, yes — Nate Vince, the locksmith-turned-pseudo-activist with a view. And then there’s Dr. Shannon Joslin, the biologist-turned-symbol of the Park Service’s current identity crisis. What started as two very different stories — one about too many hikes, the other about too many headlines — has become a clear case study in how not to mix personal activism with government employment.
Let’s start with Vince. He was Yosemite’s only full-time locksmith — a guy whose job was literally to keep the park functioning safely and securely. Instead, he spent much of his time climbing Half Dome, documenting his personal adventures, and soaking in the scenery like he was on permanent vacation. Eventually, the dream ended.
The National Park Service showed him the door. So what did he do? In protest, he staged a flag stunt on El Capitan, flipping Old Glory upside-down — not to desecrate it, but to register his disapproval of Trump’s policies.
Did he break rules? No. Did he leave the flag overnight? Also no. He made his point, packed it up before sunset, and treated the flag with respect. And he wasn’t even a park employee at the time.
Park Ranger FIRED after helping drag queen drape a gigantic transgender flag on Yosemite's El Capitan rock formation.
The park ranger, who identifies as trans and uses They/Them pronouns, said she is “devastated” at losing her job after organizing the trans flag protest… pic.twitter.com/lfARE9rls0
— Oli London (@OliLondonTV) August 19, 2025
Now, contrast that with Joslin — a current federal employee at the time of her stunt. The former “Quantitative Wildlife Biologist” took her own activism up a notch. Along with a group of climbers, she unfurled a giant 55-by-35-foot trans flag on the side of El Capitan, rigged with tension wire and multiple anchors. Unlike Vince, Joslin kept the banner up for the world to see — and even starred in a video about it. This wasn’t about mourning a lost job or quietly raising awareness. It was an intentional political statement, staged from a public landmark, by a recognizable employee of the federal government — and with a full media package to match.
The consequences? Immediate. Yosemite’s leadership cited “unacceptable conduct,” terminated her employment, and then, in the clearest signal yet, passed new rules banning large banners and flags on the cliffs.
Joslin tried to defend the act by claiming it was her free time, her private expression, her “dream job” lost over a peaceful demonstration. But as any employee in America could tell you: climbing up your employer’s literal property, unfurling a massive political symbol, and making yourself the face of it — even off the clock — is a fireable offense. Whether it’s Chick-fil-A or the National Park Service, you don’t get to politicize the brand and keep your badge.
And the irony? Joslin, a freshly minted Ph.D. from UC Davis, spent her academic life identifying sex markers in fish — studying the biological basis of sexual differentiation. Somehow, that translated into enlisting a mustached drag queen dressed as a park ranger to tell the world that “trans is natural” because, allegedly, some plants and fish change sex.
That was the message. That’s the hill they chose to climb — literally and metaphorically.