Detroit-area city bans Pride flags on public property

A city near Detroit has banned its residents from displaying LGBTQ flags on public property after a raucous city meeting Tuesday. 

Hamtramck, Mich., an enclave within north-central Detroit, banned the flags in a unanimous vote with one city council member arguing that the displays are unnecessary.

“You guys are welcome,” council member Nayeem Choudhury said, referring to the LGBTQ community and its supporters. “(But) why do you have to have the flag shown on government property to be represented?”

“You’re already represented,” he added. “We already know who you are.”

The city’s five council members and mayor are all Muslim, as are about half of the city’s residents, according to the Detroit Free Press. The latest census also showed that around 40 percent of the city’s residents are immigrants.

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

The city, as a result of the vote, will only allow flags of the nations that represent the city’s immigrant heritage and the flag of Michigan to be flown. The city’s previous mayor flew the Pride flag from City Hall in 2021, causing a controversy in the community and making it a campaign issue for the newly elected Mayor Amer Ghalib.

“We serve everybody equally with no discrimination but without favoritism,” Ghalib said.

The council resolution reads that it is intended to “maintain and confirm the neutrality of the city of Hamtramck towards its residents.”

The move has brought the city under fire with critics calling the ban discriminatory, however, the resolution’s author, Councilman Mohammed Hassan, said it represents the views of a majority of the city’s residents. 

“Please don’t threaten us … I’m the elected official … I’m working for the people, what the majority of the people like,” Hassan said.