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.
