In Traverse City, Michigan, rainbow stickers place on police cars and other city vehicles earlier this month are being removed because of complaints that the emblem promotes homosexuality. City officials said the stickers of a rainbow overlaid with human figures were meant to endorse diversity, but they drew hundreds of letters and emails to the city commission because the rainbow emblem is a symbol for acceptance of gays. Traverse City Mayor Larry Hardy said he had no idea it had anything to do with the gay community. “I personally think I was kind of conned,” he said. “I was stupid not to know what the symbol stood for.” City Commissioner Margaret Dodd, who designed the sticker, said the design was “never in mind just a gay thing.” She said the stickers evolved as a result of a series of hate crimes in the community. In September, three men attacked an employee at a bar frequented by gay men and lesbians.