Federal judge rules in favor of the city’s pride flag ban

Former Hamtramck Human Relations Commission Chairman Russ Gordon hoists a pride flag in defiance of a city ban on displaying pride flags on public property – such as a city-owned flagpole. That act prompted the mayor to remove him and another commission member from their positions, and was a springboard for a lawsuit. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
Last week, a federal judge likely dealt a death blow to those seeking to have the pride flag displayed again on a city flagpole.
Federal Judge David Lawson said the city was within its rights to ban the pride flag.
He also rejected a request from the attorney representing former city Human Relations Commissionmembers Russ Gordon and Catrina Stackpoole to have their positions on the commission reinstated.
In his answer for a summary judgment on the reinstatement of Gordon and Stackpoole, Judge Lawson said that past court rulings, “Tend to favor the City’s position that the flagpoles were not a forum for public speech. …”
Also, the judge said the city council’s past resolution restricting that the only flags to be flown from city flagpoles are the American flag, state flag, city flag and POW-MIA flag was “constitutionally permissible.”
The mayor and council, who are all male and all Muslim, said they took this action in order for the city to remain “neutral” in matters that could be considered politically divisive and socially controversial.
Their position reflected the city’s changing demographics and growing socially conservative viewpoints. A number of people in the city objected to displaying pride flags because they believed it was promoting homosexuality.
The city’s resolution restricting which flags could be displayed on public property, Judge Lawson also said, “is entirely viewpoint-neutral because it does not permit the display of flags representing any political or social viewpoints at all.”
Gordon and Stackpoole were fired from the Human Relations Commission when they defied the city’s ban on displaying the pride flag on public property and hoisted one on a city flagpole.
About 20 minutes after the flag was raised, the city removed the flag. That action was followed by Mayor Ghalib removing Gordon and Stackpoole from the commission.
“As commissioners, they broke their oath and they were in defiance of the city’s rules and regulations,” Ghalib said at the time..
The city charter allows the mayor to remove appointees at will. Their response to being removed from the commission was to sue the city.
Mayor Ghalib called the court ruling a “great victory” for the city.
“Your mayor and council were on the bright (sic) side of history,” Ghalib said on his Facebook page.
He also said that this court decision was a defeat of “the deep state.”
Ghalib did not elaborate on who or what constitute the “deep state,” but he has often criticized former Mayor Karen Majewski and her supporters for trying to undermine the city administration, and his position as mayor.
Ghalib continued on Facebook: “And we will triumph in other cases against the lying, deception, and incendiary falsification from centers of influence, the deep city state, etc!”

“Trust your leadership and don’t be fooled by the fake media that works to discredit all accomplishments in our city.”

Catrina Stackpoole, who is a former member of city council, told The Review the ruling is a “sad day for free speech.”
Russ Gordon said their attorney will make an appeal, but conceded that the outcome “doesn’t look good.”
His attorney, Marc Susselman, took issue with the judge’s ruling, saying, in an email: “… his analysis is seriously flawed. …”
For several years Gordon had spearheaded donation drives to pay for the international flags that used to be flown on the 18 flagpoles on Jos. Campau.
The ban on displaying pride flags drew a backlash from those supporting LGBTQ rights, and the ban led to a protest rally in Zussman Park.
State Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is gay, spoke at the rally, calling the mayor and council a “national embarrassment.”
As for the mayor and council defending their ban as an act of “neutrality,” Nessel said: “Banning the pride flag is meant to send the very opposite message: a message of intolerance, hatred, and bigotry…”
City Attorney Odey Meroueh said the court’s ruling “constitutes a complete legal vindication for Mayor Ghalib and the City of Hamtramck, affirming that the City’s policy decisions were lawful, neutral, and in the community’s best interests.”
Posted July 25, 2025