Pride flag vandalism leads to another round of debate

Recently, someone tore down a pride flag being displayed at the Piast Institute office on Jos. Campau. Photo supplied by Karen Majewski

By Charles Sercombe
The display of a pride flag has once again stirred controversy in Hamtramck.
This time, it’s about the vandalism of a pride flag that was displaced outside of the Piast Institute office on Jos. Campau.
During the past week, someone tore down the flag and placed it in a garbage can outside the office.
The issue with the flag underscored the heated discussions on some Hamtramck-centric Facebook pages about June being labeled as “Pride Month.”
Some consider Pride Month to be “Sin Month.”
The issue has pitted religious conservatives in town against those who are progressive and liberal.
However, like many commenters on Facebook, it’s hard to tell who is using their true name or an alias, or whether some are commenting just to create division.
Hamtramck has tangled with the issue of displaying a pride flag since when the city allowed a pride flag to fly from a city-owned flagpole in Zussman Park a few years ago.
More recently, a year ago, a pride flag was displayed on one of the city-owned flagpoles on Jos. Campau.
The issue ended up with Mayor Amer Ghalib saying that those involved in displaying the flag did so without city permission, and did it “illegally.”
But, despite protests by some, the flag remained for the season.
The issue has also pitted former Mayor Karen Majewski and Mayor Ghalib against each other.
Majewski has been an outspoken supporter of the LGBTQ community and for allowing pride flags to be flown on city property, while Ghalib said that the issue is up to city officials to decide.
In this recent incident, some have called out for the mayor to speak about the incident.
He eventually did on the city’s Facebook page, although he didn’t specify the Piast incident at hand:

“We denounce any vandalism or hate crime,” Ghalib said. “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. Violence only leads to more violence, and we never get close to the truth if other voices with whom we disagree are silenced.
“I would encourage anyone who has any knowledge about the recent vandalism to reach out to our Hamtramck Police Department and report it.
“I also trust our police department to conduct a very thorough investigation, and I plan to stay informed of their progress.”
Others have been not so diplomatic.
City Council candidate Nasr Hussain had this to say on the Facebook page, “Hamtramck Square:”
“One of the symptoms of homosexuality is the need to feel victimized. If whoever did it wanted to get rid of it, he will never conveniently put it in the trash can where it can be easily retrieved.
“If this is not a case of getting attention then a police report should be made and I am sure many businesses in this section have good-quality video cameras to identify the person who did it.”
Others have also said that the incident was a set up by Piast with former Mayor Majewski, who took a photo of the flag in the garbage can and then posted it on her Facebook page, to purposely stir up controversy and make Mayor Ghalib look bad.
“Why would someone remove this flag and neatly place on the trash can and no one ever saw them do it on major busy street with many cameras (and) then out of nowhere the former mayor appeared to take a very clean picture of it,” said Mamon Shareef on the Facebook page called “Hamtramck Square.”
He later added in another comment:
“…They got what they need out of this, which is to bully the mayor (Ghalib). Like what does the mayor have to do with this non issue? …”
Finally, Virginia Skrzyniarz, the CEO of Piast, said that the flag was not meant to cause division in the community.
“The reason the flag is there is for inclusion,” Skrzyniarz told The Review. “We weren’t trying to get under anyone’s skin; it wasn’t in anyone’s face.”
Skrzyniarz said the incident should be used as a teaching moment on “how we can all live together.”
Piast has since displayed a pride banner high up on its building.
As for a pride flag once again being on display on a Jos. Campau flagpole, that’s up to the Human Relations Commission.
The problem, however, is that there has been an ongoing issue of getting enough commission members together to meet as a quorum to hold a meeting and conduct votes.
Commission Chairman Russ Gordon said that, if no decision is made this month, he will put up a pride flag on Jos. Campau in July, after the Fourth of July.
As of now, the flagpoles are all displaying the American flag, except one that is currently displaying the Ukrainian flag.

Posted June 9, 2023