HAMTRAMCK — A federal appeals court in Cincinnati has upheld the constitutionality of Hamtramck’s 2023 resolution restricting which flags may be displayed on city-owned flagpoles, a policy that prevents LGBTQ+ Pride and transgender flags from being flown on public property in the Muslim-majority city.

A three-judge panel of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit unanimously affirmed a ruling by U.S. District Judge David M. Lawson in Gordon v. City of Hamtramck. Lawson concluded that the city’s refusal to display a Pride flag did not violate the Constitution because the resolution excludes a broad range of religious, racial, ethnic, political and sexual-orientation flags rather than specifically targeting the Pride flag.

The appellate judges determined that the “flag neutrality” resolution, unanimously adopted by the Hamtramck City Council in 2023, did not violate the Establishment Clause or the Equal Protection Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

The Establishment Clause of the First Amendment prohibits the government from establishing an official religion or favoring one faith over another. The Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment requires governments to treat people equally under the law and prohibits unjustified discrimination.

The Hamtramck City Council unanimously approved Resolution 2023-82, formally titled the “Resolution to Maintain and Confirm the Neutrality of the City of Hamtramck Towards Its Residents.”

The policy permits five categories of flags to be displayed on city-owned flagpoles: The American flag, the Michigan flag, the Hamtramck flag, the Prisoner of War/Missing in Action flag and the flags of nations representing the international character of the city’s residents.

This case was never about one flag or one community. It was about whether the city may reserve its own flagpoles for its own messages. — Hamtramck City Attorney Odey Meroueh

The resolution was approved following complaints from residents who objected to Pride flags being displayed in the city during June, which is recognized nationally as Pride Month.

The controversy prompted former Hamtramck Human Relations Commission members Russ Gordon and Cathy Stackpoole to sue the city after they were prevented from displaying a rainbow Pride flag on a city-owned flagpole.

Lawson ruled that the flag policy — which does not prevent residents or business owners from displaying Pride flags on private property — did not violate the freedom of speech protections guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution.

The Sixth Circuit agreed, concluding that the city had closed what previously could have been considered a limited public forum and converted the flagpoles into a platform for government speech. Under that principle, the city is entitled to determine which messages it conveys through its own property.

“The court recognized what the city has maintained from the beginning: This case was never about one flag or one community,” Hamtramck City Attorney Odey Meroueh said in response to the appellate ruling. “It was about whether the city may reserve its own flagpoles for its own messages. In a published decision, the Sixth Circuit confirmed that it may.

“Former Mayor Ghalib showed steady leadership on this issue from the start, and this decision is a vindication of that leadership and of the Council’s position in adopting the policy,” Meroueh added. “We are grateful to the court for its careful and thorough consideration of the case.”

The ruling also upheld Hamtramck’s authority to remove Gordon and Stackpoole from the volunteer Human Relations Commission.

On July 9, 2023, the two commissioners displayed a Pride flag on a public flagpole in defiance of the city resolution adopted weeks earlier. The flag was removed that day. Two days later, the City Council removed Gordon and Stackpoole from the commission for intentionally violating the city’s policy and transferred control of the public flagpoles from the commission to the council.