Hamtramck council approves banning LGBTQ+, other flags on city property

Hamtramck — Residents and nonresidents packed council chambers as well as the hallway at Hamtramck City Council Tuesday night as city officials approved a proposed neutrality flag resolution that would effectively ban LGBTQ+, religious, ethnic, racial and political flags from being flown on city property.

The proposal has stirred debate in this city of two square miles. Several of the speakers who addressed the council said they supported the resolution, and many applauded in agreement. About 125 also sent in written comments, with many against the proposal.

The resolution, called a "Resolution to Maintain and Confirm the Neutrality Of the City of Hamtramck Towards Its Residents," was sponsored by City Councilman Mohammed Hassan.

The proposal called for the ban of all but five flags from being flown on city properties — including the American flag, the state of Michigan flag, the Hamtramck flag and the Prisoner of War flag. The fifth one is known as the nations' flag, one that represents the countries from which the city's immigrant residents hail and reflects the community's international character.

Ultimately, the council said the decision was not about discriminating but heeding the city's 2013 resolution about reflecting "the international character of the city."

"We’re just trying to implement the previous practice. Nothing new," Mayor Amer Ghalib said before the unanimous vote, which came just before the meeting reached the four-hour mark.

He and the council members stressed residents can still fly pride flags on their own property.

"On your property you can do what you want to do," Councilman Khalil Refai said.

Some attendees traveled from around Metro Detroit to express their feelings about the measure ahead of the vote.

"This is America. We don't fly heterosexual flags," Stephanie Butler said. "...This doesn't mean people are not free to exist."

Many told the council they believed limiting the types of flags allowed was a way to criticize the LGBTQ+ community and defied Hamtramck's reputation as an inclusive place.

"This resolution, to me, feels like a thinly veiled attack on one flag," said Darren Shelton, executive director of the city's Planet Ant Theatre.

City officials said the resolution was not rooted in division.

"It basically is council's attempt to keep the city's flag poles neutral," City Manager Max Garbarino said Tuesday.

"Last year there was a pride flag up there, and there was a dust-up in the community in regard to that. There was a lot of the community that was for it. There was a lot of the community that was against it.

"The thought process, I believe, is that it potentially could go up here again this summer. And this is basically a resolution specifically just saying these are the only flags we want in an attempt to stay neutral on the topic."

Garbarino said the resolution was updated and posted on the City of Hamtramck website on Monday. It emphasizes that the city won't provide any "special treatment to any group" and that the city wants to prevent opening the "door for radical or racist groups to ask for their flags to be flown," according to the proposed language.

"As it stated, Hamtramck should be neutral and should not allow any group to fly their flags on city properties, except USA, city, state and POW flags, or countries flags" as set out in the city's 2013 resolution about reflecting "the international character of the city," Ghalib said in a Tuesday statement.

He added he has "received some verbal requests from people representing some religious groups, and I expect more requests if we allow the flag of one group to be flown."

In 2022, Hamtramck seated its first all-Muslim city council and mayor. The council raised eyebrows in January when it approved updates to the city's ordinance outlining how residents can perform religious slaughters privately.

Some Hamtramck residents are concerned the resolution wants to prevent the flying of the LGBTQ+ flag on city properties.

Others who spoke during the lengthy, sometimes heated public comments at the meeting Tuesday feared the climate the resolution approval might create.

"We have to respect every human being," said Bill Meyer, executive director of OneHamtramck LLC.

Some vehemently disagreed about flying a flag in support of the LGBTQ+ community, instead calling on the city to focus on the American flag.

"I have a right to say I'm against the gay pride flag," one man told the council.

Before his vote, Hassan rejected allegations from speakers that the council was discriminatory or bigoted.

"We love everybody. We don't hate anybody. We don’t discriminate (against) anybody. We are living very respectfully without hate," he said.

Councilman Nayeem Choudhury said LGBTQ+ residents were already welcome in the diverse city and didn't necessarily need a flag flying to be represented.

"We're doing our best to support the community," he said.

Planet Ant Theatre managing director Andy Reid said the theater hosts many LGBTQ+ events and prides itself in having a place for LGBTQ+ performers. He said it's concerning the proposal was even made.

"We're a theater that we do a lot of LGBTQ programming. We're a safe space in the city for a lot of queer artists. And this is alarming, it's escalating," Reid said.

Shelton made a statement on the theater's Facebook page Tuesday morning, calling the ordinance oppressive to representation of the community.

"There has been an ongoing fight by many wonderful folks in our community for LGBT+ pride and representation within the city. Left with seemingly no other option to suppress this representation, this is the council's cowardly response," Shelton said in the Facebook post.

A week before the Tuesday meeting, Karen Majewski, Hamtramck's former mayor, posted on Facebook that she found the Piast Institute's pride flag in a trash can near the building.

The same day, Ghalib said in a statement posted on the city's Facebook page: "We denounce any vandalism or hate crime. Especially against anyone or their property for religious affiliation, political views, or sexual orientation, which makes it particularly egregious. I also condemn all criminal acts designed to stifle debate and freedom of expression, which, along with religious and press freedom, are the most important rights protected by our First Amendment."

The Hamtramck issue emerges during a unique point in the state and nation for LGBTQ+ residents.

June is Pride Month, when events celebrating the group are held across the country, including in Detroit.

Meanwhile, a majority of negative social media posts about Pride Month this year are attacking companies for being “woke” and accusing them of sexualizing or grooming children, says RILA Global Consulting, which tracks more than 100 million websites and social media pages per day.

Last week, the Human Rights Campaign officially declared a state of emergency for LGBTQ+ people in the United States for the first time in its more than 40-year history, citing “an unprecedented and dangerous spike in anti-LGBTQ+ legislative assaults sweeping state houses this year.”

The civil rights group released a report this month that detailed more than 75 anti-LGBTQ+ bills signed into law in 2023, doubling the total last year.

“Though we have recently seen some political gains that support and affirm transgender people, we have also faced anti-LGBTQ+ attacks at many levels of government this year,” the group said in a statement. “As of this writing, more than 520 anti-LGBTQ+ bills are under consideration in state legislatures across the country, more than 220 of which directly target transgender people.”

At least 17 states have enacted laws restricting or banning gender-affirming care for minors, most since the start of this year.

In March, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed into law legislation to add sexual orientation and gender identity protections to the state's Elliott-Larsen Civil Rights Act. That prevents against discrimination related to employment, housing and public accommodations.

The long-debated policy explicitly adds to state law what the Michigan Supreme Court ruled in July: the state's protections against discrimination based on sex include protections for gay and transgender individuals.

During the Motor City Pride event in Detroit on Sunday, Whitmer signed an executive order establishing Michigan’s LGBTQ+ Commission. The commission will address issues facing Michigan’s LGTBQ+ community, including health, safety, and economic opportunity, her office said. It also is slated to examine ways to make the state a more welcoming place for LGBTQ+ residents.

U.S. President Joe Biden has announced that the Department of Homeland Security, working with the Justice and Health and Human Services departments, will partner with LGBTQ+ community organizations to provide safety resources and training to help thwart violent attacks.

Separately, HHS and the Department of Housing and Urban Development will provide resources to help LGBTQ+ young people with mental health needs, support in foster care and homelessness.

To confront a spike in book bans, the Department of Education's civil rights office will appoint a new coordinator to work with schools to address that threat. The White House said banning books erodes democracy, deprives students of material needed for learning and can contribute to the stigma and isolation that LGBTQ+ youth feel because books about them are often the ones that are prohibited.

The Associated Press contributed.