'It's baloney': Ex-Hamtramck commissioners sound off after firing for flying Pride flag on city property

HAMTRAMCK, Mich. (FOX 2) - Tonight we're hearing from two Hamtramck commissioners kicked off their board for flying a pride flag on city property.

The City Council voted this week to remove Russ Gordon and Cathy Stackpoole from the Human Relations Commission Tuesday. That vote was unanimous.

They also voted to remove the commission's authority to fly flags on city property. The commission voted last month to ban certain flags -  including the pride flag - from being displayed on city buildings.

They say it's to promote respect for diversity and encourage tolerance. But Gordon and Stackpoole say... it does the opposite.

"This is the United States of America, there is separation of church and state," said Russ Gordon. "It's unconstitutional. This resolution can't stand. What they contend to reason for the resolution is equality. It's just the opposite.

"It is denigrating and excluding a certain segment of the community that makes certain religious people uncomfortable."

That ordinance says only the American, state, Hamtramck and Prisoner of War flags can fly on city property.

"This is the flag that represents me," said Stackpoole. "Why can't my flag be up there with the Yemeni flag, and the Bengali flag, and everybody else in town. It's baloney."