The Hamtramck Pride flag ban is a June 2023 city council resolution that bars Pride flags and other non-governmental flags from city-owned property in Hamtramck, Michigan, limiting official flagpoles to five approved flags. The policy was upheld by a federal judge in September 2025 and is now on appeal before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit.
What Resolution 2023-82 Actually Does
On June 13, 2023, the Hamtramck city council voted unanimously to pass Resolution 2023-82, titled “Resolution To Maintain and Confirm the Neutrality Of The City of Hamtramck Towards Its Residents.”1Michigan Independent. Former Hamtramck Commissioners Fired for Flying Pride Flag Are Now Suing the City The resolution declared that the city “does not allow any religious, ethnic, racial, political, or sexual orientation group flags to be flown on the City’s public properties” and limited displays to five flags:2GovInfo. Gordon v. City of Hamtramck, 2:23-cv-12812 – Court Filing
- The American flag
- The Michigan state flag
- The Hamtramck city flag
- The Prisoner of War–Missing in Action (POW-MIA) flag
- Flags of nations representing the “international character” of the city’s residents
The resolution rescinded a 2013 policy that had given the city’s Human Relations Commission authority over the Joseph Campau Avenue flagpoles, where a Pride flag had flown the previous summer. The ban reaches only city-owned property. Residents and businesses may still fly any flag they choose on private property.3CBS News Detroit. Lawsuit Against Hamtramck Over Pride Flag Placement Has Been Dismissed
Why the Council Said It Passed the Ban
Mayor Amer Ghalib said the resolution was meant to “confirm the neutrality of the city government.”4WDIV ClickOnDetroit. Hamtramck City Council Preparing Vote on Resolution That Would Ban LGBTQ Pride Flags on City Property City Manager Max Garbarino said the policy was designed to avoid future disputes and to spare the city from having to approve or deny requests from various groups, including potentially “radical or racist” organizations.5Detroit News. Hamtramck Council Set to Consider Banning LGBT Flags
The vote came from an all-Muslim city council elected in November 2021, which was believed to be the first in the country.6NBC News. Nation’s First All-Muslim City Council Elected in Michigan Some members said the Pride flag “clashed with the beliefs of some members of their faith.”7Michigan Public. Hamtramck Can Ban LGBTQ Pride Flags on Public Property, Judge Says Councilmember Mohammed Hassan told the Guardian, “I’m working for the people, what the majority of the people like.”8The Guardian. Hamtramck, Michigan: Muslim Council Bans LGBTQ Pride Flags
Community Reaction
Opposition was immediate. On June 24, 2023, hundreds of protesters rallied at Hamtramck City Hall carrying Pride flags. Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel urged the mayor and council to “take down the wall you have now built that has made this proud city into a national embarrassment, and raise the flag of equality.”9Hamtramck Review. Pride Rally Takes Aim at Flag Issue Former Mayor Karen Majewski spoke of a “sense of betrayal,” noting the city’s 2005 decision, under a white Christian-majority council, to permit the Muslim call to prayer from local mosques.8The Guardian. Hamtramck, Michigan: Muslim Council Bans LGBTQ Pride Flags
The Firings of Russ Gordon and Cathy Stackpoole
Less than a month after the resolution passed, two members of the Hamtramck Human Relations Commission acted in open defiance. On July 9, 2023, commission chair Russ Gordon and former mayor pro tem Cathy Stackpoole raised a Pride flag on one of the Joseph Campau Avenue flagpoles.2GovInfo. Gordon v. City of Hamtramck, 2:23-cv-12812 – Court Filing
The council responded the same day with Resolution 2023-99, unanimously removing both commissioners. The resolution said the two “did intentionally violate the laws of the City of Hamtramck by flying a flag in contravention of Resolution 2023-82” and that their removal was needed “in order to maintain the respect and dignity of the rule of law.” Two days later, on July 11, the council stripped the Human Relations Commission of authority over the city’s flagpoles entirely.2GovInfo. Gordon v. City of Hamtramck, 2:23-cv-12812 – Court Filing
In a July 12 appearance on the Tudor Dixon Podcast, Mayor Ghalib described the group that raised the flag as a “militia” and said Gordon and Stackpoole were former politicians acting with “no responsibility” and “no respect for law and order.”10Michigan Advance. Hamtramck Mayor Describes Group That Flew LGBTQ Pride Flag as a Militia
The Federal Lawsuit
On November 6, 2023, Gordon and Stackpoole sued the city in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan. Their attorney, Marc M. Susselman, argued on two grounds.11Michigan Advance. Federal Lawsuit Argues Hamtramck’s LGBTQ Pride Flag Ban Is Unconstitutional
First, they said the resolution violated the First Amendment’s free speech protections because it was not genuinely content-neutral. The city banned Pride flags while continuing to permit the POW-MIA flag and flags of foreign nations, both of which carry their own symbolic messages. Second, they argued the policy violated the Fourteenth Amendment’s equal protection clause by discriminating against a group rather than treating all speakers neutrally. The suit asked the court to overturn the ban and reinstate both commissioners.12Detroit Free Press. Lawsuit Filed Against Hamtramck Ban of LGBTQ Flags on City Property
How the Court Ruled
The case, Gordon v. City of Hamtramck (Case No. 2:23-cv-12812), went before U.S. District Judge David Lawson. On July 14, 2025, Judge Lawson denied the plaintiffs’ motion for summary judgment. On September 8, 2025, he dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning it cannot be refiled.3CBS News Detroit. Lawsuit Against Hamtramck Over Pride Flag Placement Has Been Dismissed
The ruling turned on the government speech doctrine. Judge Lawson held that the city’s flagpoles were “a forum for government speech, over which the city maintained control,” not a public forum for private expression.13Detroit News. Court Clears Way for Dismissal of Suit Over Hamtramck Pride Flag Ban When the government speaks for itself, it is not bound by the First Amendment’s rules against viewpoint discrimination. The court also found the regulation viewpoint-neutral because it bars every non-governmental flag regardless of message, and reasonable in light of the city’s interest in avoiding controversy. Lawson wrote that the policy “bans all private flags not just some.”14Michigan Lawyers Weekly. Pride Flag Ban OK on Public Property
Why Shurtleff v. Boston Did Not Save the Plaintiffs
The plaintiffs leaned on the Supreme Court’s 2022 decision in Shurtleff v. City of Boston, which held that Boston violated the First Amendment when it denied a request to fly a Christian flag at city hall. The Court reasoned that because Boston had allowed hundreds of private groups to raise flags without review, the flags were private speech, and the denial was unconstitutional viewpoint discrimination.15Congress.gov. First Amendment – Government Speech
Judge Lawson distinguished Hamtramck’s situation on exactly that point. Hamtramck adopted a written policy spelling out which flags could fly and barring everything else, giving the city the kind of control over its flagpoles that Boston had lacked.16GovInfo. Gordon v. City of Hamtramck, 2:23-cv-12812 – Opinion and Order That control is what moved the flagpoles into the government-speech category.
The Sixth Circuit Appeal
Gordon and Stackpoole appealed the dismissal to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. A panel of the Sixth Circuit heard oral arguments by June 2026.17Law360. Sixth Circuit Weighs Michigan City’s Pride Flag Policy A ruling has not yet been issued. Until the appeal is decided, Resolution 2023-82 remains in force, and the five-flag limit continues to govern Hamtramck’s public flagpoles.