Hamtramck council bans LGBTQ flags from city property after months of intense debate

After three hours of public comment and months of intense debate, the Hamtramck City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to ban LGBTQ+ Pride flags from being displayed on all city properties.

Introduced by Mayor Pro Tem Mohammed Hassan, the resolution also prohibited the display and flying of flags with racist and political views. Before the vote, Hassan gave a fiery speech blasting critics of the resolution for not respecting the views of Hamtramck residents, quoting from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg Address about how government should be of the people, by the people, for the people.

The clashes represented diverging views about the future of Hamtramck, whose population jumped 27% from 2010 to 2020, one of the biggest spikes among older cities in Michigan.

Hassan and other members of the council said the LGBTQ+ community and others are welcome in Hamtramck but that they need to respect religious freedom. Some proponents of the resolution said the Pride flag clashes with their faith. Several speakers from Dearborn who were leaders in protests last year against LGBTQ+ books spoke at the Hamtramck meeting, saying American soldiers sacrificed for the U.S. flag, not the Pride flag.

"You guys are the ones making problems," not us, Hassan said of opponents at the meeting. "Please don't threaten us. ... I'm the elected official. ... I'm working for the people, what the majority of the people like."

City Councilman Nayeem Choudhury said LGBTQ+ people in Hamtramck have equal access to all services, but should respect Muslim sensibilities.

"We want to respect the religious rights of our citizens," Choudhury said. "You guys are welcome. ... (but) why do you have to have the flag shown on government property to be represented? You're already represented. We already know who you are. ... By making this (about) bigotry ... it's making it like you want to hate us."

Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib said: "We serve everybody equally with no discrimination, but without favoritism.

"Those people who accused me of hating them, half of my boards and commissions are either LGBTQ, or supporters for LGBTQ," Ghalib added. "I never fired anybody who belong to the LGBTQ."

The council's move may block Hamtramck's Human Relations Commission Chair Russ Gordon from raising the LGBTQ+ flag on a city sidewalk next month, which he said earlier he was planning to do again like he did last year.

LGBTQ+ people and their supporters spoke out strongly against the resolution, saying it would push them out of Hamtramck and reduce investment in the Detroit enclave known for its immigrant and artistic communities. Some noted that Muslim immigrants once faced discrimination when they immigrated to Hamtramck and should be more sensitive about discriminating against other groups. A majority of the public comments submitted by email and read by Hamtramck City Clerk Rana Faraj at the meeting opposed the resolution, calling it backwards and bigoted.

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At one point during the public comment session, a woman wearing a clown nose made sarcastic remarks about how Hamtramck should change its slogan to say the city "welcomes you if you're straight," and then kissed a woman standing next to her.

Hamtramck has the highest percentage of immigrants among cities in Michigan and is the only city in the U.S. with an all-Muslim city council and mayor. Packed with bars and arts centers, the city also has attracted LGBTQ+ people and others looking for an alternative and affordable lifestyle.

"The LGBTQ community is the life blood of our organization," Darren Shelton, executive director of Planet Ant Theatre in Hamtramck, said at the meeting. "I don't think sexuality is a political issue."

The Tuesday vote was the latest in an ongoing debate stretching back 15 years over LGBTQ+ rights in Hamtramck. In 2008, conservative Christians launched an effort to defeat a ballot proposal in Hamtramck that would have protected gay rights, reaching out to the city's growing Muslim community to hold rallies and defeat the proposal backed by LGBTQ+ advocates. In 2021, then-Mayor Karen Majewski flew the Pride flag outside City Hall, drawing criticism and prompting challenger Amer Ghalib to make it a campaign issue. Ghalib defeated her and on Tuesday spoke out in favor of Hassan's resolution.

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Three City Council seats are up for election this year in Hamtramck, where about half of the city's population is either of Yemeni or Bangladeshi descent. LGBTQ+ advocates have also clashed over the past year with conservative Christians across Michigan. Some of the Hamtramck council members expressed concern that progressives are singling out their city over the LGBTQ+ flag issue only now, but not in the past, and not in other cities in metro Detroit.

The chambers and hallways were packed for the long council meeting. Dearborn residents active with the Republican Party spoke near the beginning. Two religious leaders in the Muslim community sat in the front.

A Hamtramck imam who emigrated from Bangladesh spoke in favor of the resolution, saying that all religions oppose certain ideologies.

"None of the religions support them," he said. "Allah created us man and woman, which is natural."

At times, Hamtramck Police Chief Anne Moise had to quiet down the crowd, but there was no violence or arrests during the meeting. Hassan Aoun, of Dearborn, who was a key leader in shutting down a Dearborn Schools board meeting last year, sat in the crowd and was outspoken. He and others are among a small but growing number of Muslims across the U.S. pushing back against LGBTQ+ content. Earlier this month, Muslims held a protest against a Maryland school district, garnering national attention.

"Pride month, don't put it down our throats," Aoun said. "You can be gay by yourself. ... Do not put (the Pride flag) on city property."

Another speaker, Hassan, gave his remarks in Arabic, which were translated by Ghalib.

"Flying ... the LGBT flag is something unacceptable," Ghalib said, translating Hassan's words into English. "And it's odd, he said, to humanity and to the nature of people. And he thinks it will destroy the new generations."

The council's vote Tuesday is the latest effort that has stirred controversy. Earlier this year, members voted to allow animal sacrifices during the Eid holiday.

Hassan and Ghalib said the resolution was supported by a previous resolution passed a decade ago allowing various international flags to be raised in Hamtramck. During Tuesday's meeting, there was some discussion about eliminating those as well, and only raising the American flag.

State Sen. Stephanie Chang, D-Detroit, whose district includes Hamtramck, released a statement Wednesday expressing support for LGBTQ+ people.

“To Hamtramck LGBTQ+ community members and their families — please know that you have many allies throughout the city and state, and that includes me as your state senator," Chang said. "You are loved, you are welcome, and you are valued. Hamtramck has had a long history of being a place of hope and opportunity for people of all backgrounds."

Oakland County Executive David Coulter posted a tweet with a link to a story about the council's vote that said: "You're welcome here."

Hayley Cain, of Hamtramck, said the resolution "sends a clear message of discrimination."

Cain said she moved from California to Hamtramck because "I knew it was a diverse community," but now, "I'm questioning whether it is. ... I don't want to live in a place like this.

"The Pride flag represents making space for all humans on all the spectrums and this is where we're going as a human species," she said. "You can't stop that."

Free Press photographer Sarahbeth Maney contributed to this report.

Contact Niraj Warikoo: [email protected], Facebook.com/nwarikoo, or Twitter @nwarikoo.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Hamtramck City Council bans LGBTQ Pride flags from city property