Muslim City Council Terminates Commissioners Over Flying ‘Pride’ Flag

Two liberal human relations commissioners in Hamtramck, Michigan, bucked the all-Muslim city council by flying the “Pride” flag on city property in violation of the recent law prohibiting such actions.

Both were fired after defying the law.

In June, the council voted unanimously to approve the law banning the LGBT flag along with many others from public property. The proposal by Mayor pro tem Muhammad Hassan prohibited any flag representing religious, ethnic, racial, political or gender orientation from being flown.

The mayor and council specifically welcomed all to the city and said that none were being singled out. They merely asserted that public property would not be used to promote agendas.

Councilmember Khalil Refai told Fox News that the body “believes in fairness, neutrality toward our residents, and the rule of law, among other things for the community.”

As a rejection of the recently passed law, he said that two sworn commissioners “outright defied it, and did what they wanted.” 

The Detroit News reported that commissioners Russ Gordon and Cathy Stackpoole flew the “Pride” flag over a public sidewalk for about two hours. It was raised on a city flagpole before being taken down by an unknown person, according to Stackpoole. 

Gordon was the chair of the commission. The body’s work was “to promote mutual understanding and respect for multiculturalism and diversity, advocate for peace and justice and encourage tolerance and constructive communication.”

As a result of their illegally flying the flag, the pair are no longer members of the Hamtramck Human Relations Commission. This action came with a unanimous vote on Tuesday. 

City manager Max Garbarino confirmed the two were fired for violation of the flag restriction. He told the outlet that they were also being investigated to see if there were criminal violations to city statutes.

Hamtramck has a population of roughly 27,000 and is surrounded by Detroit. U.S. Census figures show that over 40% of the town’s residents were born abroad, and many are from Yemen or Bangladesh. 

The all-Muslim council has spawned other controversies. In January, it voted to allow animal sacrifices in private homes citing religious freedom. And in March the Hamtramck City Council endorsed a resolution supporting Palestine.

It further called for an end to military aid to “all repressive governments.”