Posted on Nov 11, 2023
Two Michigan former officials sue city over ‘unconstitutional’ Pride flag ban
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Two former officials from Hamtramck, Michigan, filed a lawsuit in federal court on Monday, alleging the city’s recent ban on flying Pride flags and certain other flags on city property is unconstitutional.
Cathy Stackpoole and Russ Gordon were both members of the Hamtramck human relations commission in June, when the Hamtramck city council approved a resolution banning the flying of LGBTQ+ Pride flags on city property, along with certain other flags.
The next month, Stackpoole and Gordon raised a Pride flag on a city-owned flagpole in violation of the new resolution. According to court documents, the councilmember Mohammed Hassan spotted the flag and called the police, who removed the flag. The city council subsequently fired Stackpoole and Gordon from the commission. They are suing for damages and to be reinstated, but they say their lawsuit is about much more.
Cathy Stackpoole and Russ Gordon were both members of the Hamtramck human relations commission in June, when the Hamtramck city council approved a resolution banning the flying of LGBTQ+ Pride flags on city property, along with certain other flags.
The next month, Stackpoole and Gordon raised a Pride flag on a city-owned flagpole in violation of the new resolution. According to court documents, the councilmember Mohammed Hassan spotted the flag and called the police, who removed the flag. The city council subsequently fired Stackpoole and Gordon from the commission. They are suing for damages and to be reinstated, but they say their lawsuit is about much more.
Two Michigan former officials sue city over ‘unconstitutional’ Pride flag ban
Posted from theguardian.com
LGBTQ+
Lawsuit
Freedom of Speech
1st Amendment
Posted 6 mo ago
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PO1 William "Chip" Nagel
..."“Erasing the rainbow flag … is just the first step in a larger agenda of pushing gay people back into the closet. Symbolically, the rainbow flag was created as a beacon of hope to people who are living in the darkness of the closet, who would see that beacon of hope and then take that first brave step out into the light of freedom,” said Beal. “If it’s then taken away, the message is go back in the closet. You are a secondhand citizen.”
Stackpoole sees the issue similarly: “My brother died of Aids. I’ve been fighting this fight since 1969 … This is 2023 and we’re not going to go back in the closet again.”
From Elon Musk to Rupert Murdoch, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.
And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media – the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. While fairness guides everything we do, we know there is a right and a wrong position in the fight against racism and for reproductive justice. When we report on issues like the climate crisis, we’re not afraid to name who is responsible. And as a global news organization, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective on US politics – one so often missing from the insular American media bubble.
Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not."
..."“Erasing the rainbow flag … is just the first step in a larger agenda of pushing gay people back into the closet. Symbolically, the rainbow flag was created as a beacon of hope to people who are living in the darkness of the closet, who would see that beacon of hope and then take that first brave step out into the light of freedom,” said Beal. “If it’s then taken away, the message is go back in the closet. You are a secondhand citizen.”
Stackpoole sees the issue similarly: “My brother died of Aids. I’ve been fighting this fight since 1969 … This is 2023 and we’re not going to go back in the closet again.”
From Elon Musk to Rupert Murdoch, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.
And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media – the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. While fairness guides everything we do, we know there is a right and a wrong position in the fight against racism and for reproductive justice. When we report on issues like the climate crisis, we’re not afraid to name who is responsible. And as a global news organization, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective on US politics – one so often missing from the insular American media bubble.
Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not."
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