For now, pride flag dispute is not quite over

Former Human Relations Commission Chairman Russ Gordon and his colleague on the commission Catrina Stackpoole are not backing down in their lawsuit against the city to overturn the ban on displaying a pride flag on city property. File photo

By Charles Sercombe
As expected, the fight over whether the city can ban the display of pride flags on public property is not over.
The attorney for the two former members of the city’s Human Relations Commission who challenged the city’s ban (Russ Gordon and Catrina Stackpoole) has filed an appeal with the federal court.
That federal judge, David Lawson, denied their earlier motion to issue an immediate decision on the case in their favor.
In his appeal, attorney Marc Susselman said, essentially, that “The fact that the pride flag was displayed before Hamtramck passed the resolution banning its display is a critical fact in support of our position, and would be a critical consideration in all future campaigns in other cities and states.
“Once the pride flag has been displayed, it makes it very difficult for a city or state to pass legislation banning it and still maintain that the legislation is content and viewpoint neutral.”
But the federal judge in the case, David Lawson, supported the city’s argument that the city council’s action was an act of being neutral in what has become a divisive political issue in town, between those who are supportive of LGBTQ rights and the growing conservative Muslim population.
In his opinion, Judge Lawson said the city’s ban, “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 on Jos. Campau.
About 20 minutes after the flag was raised, other city workers 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.
Posted Aug. 1, 2025