Did Trans Activists Really Think This Yosemite Stunt Was Going to Change Anything?

If I were the type who would infiltrate the trans activist movement to make it look foolish, I’d probably pull off a stunt like this. Trans-identified activists traveled to Yosemite National Park to hang a trans pride flag on El Capitan, an iconic natural landmark.

Stop laughing. 

I know it sounds silly, but who knows how many trans lives these people saved by filming themselves putting a flag on a piece of rock so they can virtue signal about it?

In the video, one of the activists who calls himself Pattie Gonia (Get it? Like Patagonia?) gave a speech. Unfortunately, it was hard to take him seriously because he was dressed as a warped drag queen version of Ranger Smith from the Yogi Bear cartoons.

“Some carry hate. We carry the largest trans pride flag ever to be flown in a national park and unfurled it on the side of El Cap to prove a point that trans is natural,” the Drag Ranger began.

The Trump administration and transphobes would love to have you believe that being trans is un-natural, but species that can transition sexes can be found on every continent and in every ocean on planet Earth. So call it a protest, call it a celebration. We are bringing elevation to liberation. They try to erase us from government websites and education systems and libraries. 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 people united will never be defeated.

So bold. So brave.

The guy’s speech would have given me chills if he hadn’t climbed a mountain just to argue that men can become women and vice versa.

The stunt appears to be a response to the Trump administration’s decision to remove references to trans-identified individuals from its websites.

From SFGate:

The display comes on the heels of efforts made by the Trump administration to erase any mention of transgender communities from government websites, including several removals of historical trans contributions from National Park Service webpages. In February, all mentions of transgender people were removed from the park service’s webpage dedicated to the Stonewall Uprising, a series of events led by trans women of color including the trans activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. The next month, the park service completely removed its webpages dedicated to Johnson and Rivera. On other webpages, the letters “T” and “Q” were removed from the acronym LGBTQ.

Well, I’ll just say this. If trans folks and their allies are upset about these moves, there are much better ways to argue your point than dressing up in a goofy outfit and climbing a mountain. I’ll give them points for bravery for doing it in the first place — but they might want to go back to the drawing board when it comes to their messaging. 

If I were the type who would infiltrate the trans activist movement to make it look foolish, I’d probably pull off a stunt like this. Trans-identified activists traveled to Yosemite National Park to hang a trans pride flag on El Capitan, an iconic natural landmark.

Stop laughing. 

I know it sounds silly, but who knows how many trans lives these people saved by filming themselves putting a flag on a piece of rock so they can virtue signal about it?

In the video, one of the activists who calls himself Pattie Gonia (Get it? Like Patagonia?) gave a speech. Unfortunately, it was hard to take him seriously because he was dressed as a warped drag queen version of Ranger Smith from the Yogi Bear cartoons.

“Some carry hate. We carry the largest trans pride flag ever to be flown in a national park and unfurled it on the side of El Cap to prove a point that trans is natural,” the Drag Ranger began.

The Trump administration and transphobes would love to have you believe that being trans is un-natural, but species that can transition sexes can be found on every continent and in every ocean on planet Earth. So call it a protest, call it a celebration. We are bringing elevation to liberation. They try to erase us from government websites and education systems and libraries. 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 people united will never be defeated.

So bold. So brave.

The guy’s speech would have given me chills if he hadn’t climbed a mountain just to argue that men can become women and vice versa.

The stunt appears to be a response to the Trump administration’s decision to remove references to trans-identified individuals from its websites.

From SFGate:

The display comes on the heels of efforts made by the Trump administration to erase any mention of transgender communities from government websites, including several removals of historical trans contributions from National Park Service webpages. In February, all mentions of transgender people were removed from the park service’s webpage dedicated to the Stonewall Uprising, a series of events led by trans women of color including the trans activists Marsha P. Johnson and Sylvia Rivera. The next month, the park service completely removed its webpages dedicated to Johnson and Rivera. On other webpages, the letters “T” and “Q” were removed from the acronym LGBTQ.

Well, I’ll just say this. If trans folks and their allies are upset about these moves, there are much better ways to argue your point than dressing up in a goofy outfit and climbing a mountain. I’ll give them points for bravery for doing it in the first place — but they might want to go back to the drawing board when it comes to their messaging.