Drag activist Pattie Gonia and other trans allies have displayed the largest trans Pride flag ever to be flown in a national park. A 55 x 35 foot flag has been hung from the side of the El Capitan rock formation in California’s Yosemite National Park in an act of trans solidarity and a demonstration against Republicans’ anti-trans politics.
“We flew the Trans Pride flag in Yosemite to make a statement: Trans people are natural and Trans people are loved,” Pattie Gonia said via a press release. “The current presidential administration and transphobes would love to have you believe that being trans is unnatural, but species that can transition sexes can be found on every continent and in every ocean on planet Earth.”
Related
Pattie Gonia gives historic TED Talk in drag on why joy is critical to resistance
“Joy is strategic because joy inspires momentum.”
Pattie Gonia was part of a trans-allied group calling itself Trans Is Natural. The group’s climbers hung the flag 1,500 feet high on El Capitan’s “Heart Ledges” between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. PST, according to NBC News. The flag flew until noon when park officials told the group to remove it, though the group said that officials didn’t say that any rules had been broken.
Never Miss a Beat
Subscribe to our newsletter to stay ahead of the latest LGBTQ+ political news and insights.
Subscribe to our Newsletter today
“[Republicans and transphobes] try to erase us from government websites and education systems and libraries,” Pattie Gonia said in an Instagram video about the display. “So we raise this flag, higher than ever before so every trans person knows that they have people that love them in their corner.”
The president and Republican legislators nationwide have tried to end all legal government recognition of trans people, roll back all trans-inclusive civil protections on government property, end all trans-inclusive school policies, ban all trans athletes from sports teams matching their gender identity, defund and criminalize gender-affirming medical care providers, and ban any mention of trans people from government, businesses, and school-aged library books.
“Let this flag fly higher than hate. We are done being polite about trans people’s existence…. [We’re] giving elevation to liberation,” Pattie Gonia added in the video.
Nate Vince, a member of Trans Is Natural, said, “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.”
SJ Joslin, a lead organizer of the action, said in a statement, “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.”
Pattie Gonia has recently emerged as a political force against bigotry.
During the 2024 presidential campaign, the current president used video footage of her in an anti-trans political ad against Democratic presidential nominee, then-Vice President Kamala Harris. The drag performer used the ad to help raise $15,000 for Trans Lifeline and Point of Pride, two organizations that support trans lives and gender-affirming care, respectively.
Pattie Gonia also gained national attention in 2023 when anti-LGBTQ+ Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) criticized a Pride Month brand partnership between her and the outdoor clothing and equipment retailer The North Face for its “Summer of Pride” event. Greene claimed the partnership was proof of the retailer “grooming” children.
Subscribe to the LGBTQ Nation newsletter and be the first to know about the latest headlines shaping LGBTQ+ communities worldwide.