AP reports U.S. District Judge David Lawson dismissed a lawsuit against Hamtramck, two years after the city council voted to allow only five flags, including the American flag, the Michigan flag and flags that “represent the international character” of residents.
Critics of the new policy maintained Hamtramck was violating free speech and discriminating against the gay community by the “hurtful” exclusion of their multi-colored standard.
But Lawson said the city’s policy stands because it bans all private flags not just some.
“Hamtramck’s refusal to display the Gay Pride flag did not violate the Constitution,” the judge said, per the AP report.
The council voted in favor of the flags policy in June 2023.
The following month, two members of the city’s Human Relations Commission were removed from their positions for flying Pride flags on city property, FOX News notes.
“This Council believes in fairness, neutrality towards our residents, and the rule of law, amongst other things for this community. We passed a resolution recently to do just that, and two of our sworn commissioners outright defied it, and did what they wanted,” Council member Khalil Refai said in a statement at the time.
Businesses and residents in Hamtramck – an enclave surrounded by Detroit with a population 27,000, – may still fly Pride flags on their private property but the judge’s ruling confirms it is not an issue to be embraced by civic authorities as it has been elsewhere in the country.
CBS News reports earlier this year, police investigated several incidents of alleged vandalism after residents said a person was seen snatching LGBTQI+ flags from private residences.
Police confirmed a suspect, who appeared to be a younger male or teen, walked up to a home and took the flag from the front porch.
Police said that a person, believed to be the same suspect, attempted to take the flag two days prior but was unsuccessful.
The cases are under investigation.
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