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All-Muslim council in Michigan city bans Pride flags on public property amid bizarre protest

June 15, 2023 | | Print Article

An all-Muslim community in Michigan is putting the kibosh on Pride celebrations after city council members voted to ban the rainbow flags from flying on public property.

The Hamtramck City Council meeting went on for hours, with people on both sides of the debate arguing passionately.

Ultimately, it devolved into a bizarre publicity stunt, when a woman sporting a clown’s nose mocked the council before grabbing her female cohort and kissing her on the mouth.

“Sure, many Hamtramck residents have fled countries where being gay is a death sentence, but nothing says we have to make it ‘comforting’ and ‘welcoming’ here,” the woman stated, according to DailyMail.com. “While we can’t legally discriminate against LGBTQ people in the United States anymore, the City of Hamtramck can say, ‘Ew, no, be proud somewhere else.'”

Residents — many of whom argued that the Pride flags fly in the face of their Muslim faith — packed the meeting, spilling into the hallways.

“Hamtramck, population 27,000, is an enclave surrounded by Detroit,” the Daily Mail reports. “More than 40% of residents were born in other countries, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, and a significant share are of Yemeni or Bangladeshi descent.”

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In 2015, Hamtramck became the first city in the nation to have a majority Muslim population.

The council members stressed that businesses and homeowners can still display the Pride flags on their own property.

“You guys are welcome,” said council member Nayeem Choudhury. “(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.”

The city’s decision is a matter of “respect,” he added.

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“We want to respect the religious rights of our citizens,” Choudhury explained.

Dearborn activist Hassan Aoun followed the kissing clowns at the meeting.

“I am a Lebanese person and I support the American flag,” Aoun said. “We are not going to sit here and tolerate you guys coming and saying, ‘Oh it’s Pride Month. You’re gay? No problem.'”

“Don’t sit here and throw it down kids’ throat, my throat, or anybody’s throat,” Aoun stated.

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The vote to display just five flags on public property — the American flag, the Michigan flag, and one representing the countries from which the immigrant residents originated — was ultimately unanimous.

Hamtramck Mayor Amer Ghalib said the ban on the Pride flags was in no way “an attack against [the] LGBTQ group.”

“It’s not targeting any specific group, but it doesn’t allow any preferential treatment for any group either,” he told DailyMail.com. “It confirms the neutrality of the city government, and it doesn’t allow any religious, racial, ethnic, political or sexual orientation group flags on public or city properties.”

He said the media’s framing of the resolution is “disappointing.”

“It’s disappointing that some media tries to make it sound as it’s an attack against [the] LGBTQ group,” he said. “I have many members of this group in my boards and commissions that I appointed and we get along well. I will continue to serve and treat everyone equally, but in this resolution, we block the doors in front of any other radical or racist group that would come and ask for their flag to be flown in city properties.”

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On Twitter, many noted that Christians should have taken the lead on the Pride issue.

“Muslims doing what Christians SHOULD be doing also,” wrote one user.

“Christians need to join and support Muslims fighting gender ideology. Focus on what we have in common instead of our differences,” stated another. “We all are fighting for our children’s innocence here.”

Melissa Fine
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