‘Newsmaker of the Year:’ A cultural lightning rod

State Attorney General Dana Nessel addresses a rally in Zussman Park held in protest of the city council and mayor banning pride flags from being flown on public property. Nessel said the decision made Hamtramck a “national embarrassment.”

By Charles Sercombe
With the year 2023 now behind us, it’s time, once again, to name Hamtramck’s “Newsmaker of the Year.”
By newsmaker, we mean a person or issue that dominated public discussion.
Without a doubt, the city has a cultural divide between the religious conservative members of the community and those on the politically progressive side.
And the number one issue that still stirs up debate is the ban on allowing pride flags to be flown on public property.
In this case, public property is commonly understood to mean city-owned flagpoles, but there are some who argue that the wording is too broad and too vague.
In other words, is it a violation of the city resolution to carry a pride flag on city sidewalks or in city parks?
The ban also limits the types of flags that can be displayed on public property to the U. S., State, City of Hamtramck, and Prisoner of War flags, along with those international flags that reflect the international makeup of the city.
The ban came on the heels of the election of an all-male, all Muslim city council and mayor.
Prior to them coming into elected office, the city allowed pride flags to be flown on city flagpoles.
But last summer, the city council and mayor put a stop to that, saying the flag is too controversial.
The city council justified the ban by insisting it is an effort to remain “neutral” on what some consider to be controversial flags. In the council’s resolution on the matter, it was said:
“The City does not want to open the door for radical or racist groups to ask for their flags to be flown, and this action is being taken to ensure the city’s neutrality.”
Not everyone was buying that explanation.
The state’s top law enforcer, Attorney General Dana Nessel, who is openly gay, implored the city to rescind its resolution.
At a rally held in Zussman Park by LGBTQ supporters, Nessel said:
“Banning the pride flag is meant to send the very opposite message: a message of intolerance, hatred, and bigotry. … As it’s said, ‘In situations of injustice, neutrality always favors the oppressor, never the oppressed.’ And as Martin Luther King Jr. so aptly observed: ‘The hottest place in hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict. Anyone who accepts evil, without protesting against it, is one who cooperates with it.’
Nessel added: “And make no mistake: homophobia, transphobia, are indeed forms of evil just as much as Islamophobia is.”She also said that the council’s action is a “national embarrassment.”
The pride flag issue has also attracted the attention of a number of media outlets from the state, not to mention nationally and internationally.
None of the backlash fazed the council, nor Mayor Amer Ghalib, who also supported the pride flag ban.
The ban has had a ripple effect.
Amid the controversy, a rash of pride flags being flown at private homes and businesses were vandalized. Incidents of vandalism continue to this day.
The ban also led to an awkward situation for the mayor and some councilmembers during the annual Hamtramck Labor Day Parade. They refused to be placed in front of a group of people carrying pride flags.
Instead, they chose to ride in an SUV several positions ahead of the flag carriers.
The ban also led to an incident of open defiance, and repercussions thereafter.
Two members of the Hamtramck Human Relations Commission, Chairman Russ Gordon and member Catrina Stackpoole, raised a pride flag on one of the Jos. Campau flagpoles.
“For me, the raising of this flag is less about defiance and more about protest, and a plea for tolerance,” Gordon said.
He added that the resolution to ban the pride flag stems from religious “bigotry,” and that “ordering the removal of this flag will just fan the flames.”
Stackpoole said that “This flag represents people in this community that, for years, were unable to be openly gay without harassment and worse.”
Both predicted they would be removed from the commission by the mayor.
Mayor Ghalib did not hold back on criticizing the two.
“It was a very irresponsible action by a militia that has zero respect for law and order and that once used to lead the city. I haven’t decided yet on what way to terminate them,” Ghalib said.
They were indeed later removed from the commission.
And that action led to Gordon and Stackpoole filing a federal lawsuit.
In their lawsuit, they said their First Amendment and civil rights were violated, and also allege the mayor and city council’s ban on displaying pride flags on city property was driven by religious belief.
To back up the religious aspect the council’s ban, they quoted former Councilmember Nayeem Choudhury with his explanation on why he supported the pride flag ban.
“… We have to respect the religions. We have to respect the people around here. Schools, mosques, churches,” Choudhury said.
Mayor Ghalib was unfazed by the lawsuit.
“This was expected. Another unnecessary distraction by the former power structure that doesn’t like to see the city moving forward. Good things are happening for the first time in decades, such as budget surplus and infrastructure repair,” Ghalib said.
“This exposes the former egregious leadership failure, therefore they want to constantly create obstacles on our way.”
He also added:
“As commissioners, they broke their oath and they were in defiance of the city’s rules and regulations, therefore they should be held accountable for two things: first, taking decisions without having meetings or quorum for the human relations commission.”
Posted Jan. 5, 2024