By continuing to use our site, you agree to our Private Policy and Terms of Use.
Activists unfurl Trans Pride flag on El Capitan in California's Yosemite National Park
"Let this flag fly higher than hate," says organizer Pattie Gonia.
Transgender, queer, and allied activists have unfurled a 55-by-35-foot Trans Pride flag on El Capitan, a vertical rock formation in California’s Yosemite National Park.
Keep up with the latest in LGBTQ+ news and politics. Sign up for The Advocate's email newsletter.
The flag display is part of a project called Trans Is Natural, and the flag is the largest one ever hung on El Capitan, one of the world’s most popular wall-climbing sites. The display is “a celebration of trans belonging in nature, in community, and everywhere,” says a press release from the organizers, and counters the Donald Trump administration’s efforts to erase trans people from government websites, education systems, and libraries and its discrimination against queer and trans rangers in the National Park Service.
“We flew the Trans Pride flag in Yosemite to make a statement: Trans people are natural and Trans people are loved,” Pattie Gonia, a lead organizer, drag queen, and environmentalist, said in the release. “Let this flag fly higher than hate. We are done being polite about trans people’s existence. Call it a protest, call it a celebration — either way, it’s giving elevation to liberation.”
“Raising this flag in the heart of El Capitan is a celebration of our community standing in solidarity with each other and all targeted groups,” added SJ Joslin, a lead organizer and conservation professional. “Trans existence is not up for debate. We are social workers, public servants, parents, and neighbors. Being trans is a natural, beautiful part of human and biological diversity. We can only make progress when we embrace diversity, not erase it.”
The action echoes the hanging of an upside-down American flag, a signal of distress, on El Capitan February 22 to protest the administration’s cuts to the park service. It comes after the first known all-trans team ascent of El Capitan, conducted in June 2023 by climbers Natai Endo and Juniper Welles.
“With this historic unfurling, climbers reclaim space in the heart — literally, the flag hangs on the recognizable ‘Heart Ledges’ on El Captain wall in Yosemite,” the news release says.
“Everyone deserves respect,” climber and ally Nate Vince, one of the raisers of the upside-down flag and the Trans Pride flag, said in the release. “Trans people are my friends. I step up when my friends need help, and we all need to step up right now for trans people.”
