Hamtramck, Michigan: All Muslim Council Fires Two City Commissioners for Violating “Pride” Flag Ban

Last month the all-Muslim city council of Hamtramck, Michigan voted unanimously to ban “religious, ethnic, racial, political, or sexual orientation group” flags from being flown by the government on city property while specifying the five flags allowed to be flown: “the American flag, the flag of the State of Michigan, the Hamtramck Flag, the Prisoner of War flag and the nations’ flags that represent the international character of our City.” (Previous TGP report).

The vote during so-called “Pride Month” caused an uproar among liberals in the city and state. While the “Pride” flag was not the only flag banned, it is the one that liberals have had a meltdown over. Three weeks ago, lesbian Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel (D) spoke at a rally in Hamtramck opposing the flag ban, even though the flag is not barred from being flown on private property.

Screen image.

Video from the Detroit Free Press shows now former Hamtramck Human Relations Commission chairman Russ Gordon hoisting a “Pride” flag on a city flagpole on July 9, in defiance of city law.

Human Relations Commissioners Chairman Russ Gordon and Cathy Stackpoole hoisted the “Pride” flag on a city flagpole at a protest on Sunday. On Tuesday the city council unanimously voted to fire them, as well as voting to bar the commission from flying any flag.

On Wednesday, Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib appeared on a podcast by 2022 Republican gubernatorial candidate Tudor Dixon to discuss the controversy (Michigan Advance excerpt):

“I was passing by and I saw people videotaping and taking pictures and some militia gathering around the flagpole, and I took action,” he told Dixon. “The city took it down within a couple of hours, but [came] to find out who led this process, it was the chair of the [Human Relations Commission], the former mayor [Karen Majewski], a group of politicians that one day they used to lead this city, and now they are acting like a militia … No responsibility, very irresponsible action. No respect for law and order.”

…On the podcast, Ghalib also raised the idea that opposition to the flag ban was part of an organized campaign and was leading to a shift by Muslim voters away from the Democratic Party.

“So since I took my office, I only see one obstacle in my way, and it’s created by some radical groups in the left wing here, led basically by the former mayor and the former power structure in my city supported by high elected officials in the state and other places,” he said. “So what are they doing to prevent that shift? They’re doing nothing. They are actually putting more pressure on us. They are sending some elected officials to protest in our city and to threaten us.”

Ghalib was referring to a June 24 protest when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel joined over 200 pro-LGBTQ+ people gathered outside of Hamtramck City Hall to express dissent at the flag ban.

Attorney General Nessel posted a menacing message to Hamtramck officials in a Twitter thread following last month’s protest, “Hamtramck: I am not a stranger to you. I am not an agitator. I am your attorney general. And yes, I am also gay…Anyone who accepts evil without protesting against it is one who cooperates with it. And make no mistake: homophobia and transphobia are indeed forms of evil, just as much as islamophobia is…I ask the City of Hamtramck to tear down the wall of divisiveness they’ve created and raise the flag of equality.”

Hamtramck:

I am not a stranger to you. I am not an agitator.

I am your attorney general. And yes, I am also gay.

1/3 pic.twitter.com/vA8NGMyA71

— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) June 24, 2023

I ask the City of Hamtramck to tear down the wall of divisiveness they’ve created and raise the flag of equality.

3/3 pic.twitter.com/6GOEzYdPXS

— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) June 24, 2023