Protesters unite against Hamtramck neutrality resolution, Pride flag ban

Hamtramck — With hand-made signs and prismatic flags raised high, hundreds of protesters gathered before Hamtramck City Hall on Saturday to oppose the city's June 13 flag resolution, banning LGBTQ+, religious, ethnic, racial and political flags from being flown on city property.

"I chose today to wear my Juneteenth shirt and my queer and Kente cloth stole because it shows we're all complex individuals," said the Rev. Roland Stringfellow, 55, president of Inclusive Justice of Michigan and pastor of Metropolitan Community Church of Detroit.

"When you say one group of people are not welcomed, to the community, it communicates that its OK to beat up on them ... that's not 'neutral,' that's taking sides, and it gives people a license to be hateful towards other folks," Stringfellow said.

The resolution, called a "Resolution to Maintain and Confirm the Neutrality Of the City of Hamtramck Towards Its Residents," was unanimously approved last week after a four-hour meeting, banning all but five flags from being flown on city properties — including the American flag, the state of Michigan flag, the Hamtramck flag and the Prisoner of War flag.

The fifth one is known as the nations' flag, one that represents the countries from which the city's immigrant residents hail and reflects the community's international character.

Attendees to Saturday's Pride and Protest rally, however, characterized the move as unwelcoming, hateful and duplicitous.

Gracie Cadieux of Hamtramck, one of the events organizers, said the gathering came in response to elected officials' attempt to push the LGBTQ+ to the side. She said her presence at City Hall was to ensure LGBTQ+ representation in the city of two square miles, even if the group's flags aren't flown on city property.

"I hope Hamtramck becomes a whole lot more gay," Cadieux said. "If we can't have (representation on the city's) flagpoles, I wanna see it on the sidewalks; I wanna see murals on buildings; I wanna see the history; I wanna see the representation of my community in full-show."

Cadieux said she believes the proposal was produced as a launch point for "outside agitators" into a community that may not always understand their neighbors.

"There're a lot of language barriers in this town, which can lead to a lot of misunderstandings, and that makes it very easy for (residents) to be (persuaded) by outsiders."

City officials, however, argued that the resolution was not rooted in division, although a pride flag was flown on city property last year, according to City Manager Max Garbarino.

"Last year there was a pride flag up there, and there was a dust-up in the community in regard to that. There was a lot of the community that was for it. There was a lot of the community that was against it," Garbarino said last Tuesday. "... This is basically a resolution specifically just saying these are the only flags we want in an attempt to stay neutral on the topic."

Some residents who oppose the council’s move said it wasn’t enough to merely picket City Hall; they took it a step further and penned their own proposals on flag flying and inclusion.

“This is a place where I live; its important to me that: when you see something, you say something, said Carie Branch, 35, who’s lived in Hamtramck  since 2011. “When we don’t pause to look at what we’re doing and see how it affects the community as a whole, we’re harming everyone.” 

“Going forward, I hope a lot more residents (of Hamtramck) get involved in politics,” Branch said. “I’m sure that with more, equal representation in our government, you’re going to see policies and cultural changes that are representative of the people.”

Historically, Pride events began as a way to commemorate the uprising by LGBTQ+ communities in June 1969, known as the Stonewall rebellion in New York. The month now features events that celebrate and honor the LGBTQ+ rights movement.

Ahead of the protest Saturday, Garbarino said the controversy was expected, but will most likely not change anything in the flag resolution. He expects protests to remain peaceful in the coming weeks.

"People are passionate about stuff like this, no matter what council would have done, somebody would not have been happy," Garbarino said. "We seem to address the hot topics here in Hamtramck."

jaimery@detroitnews.com

Twitter: @wordsbyjakkar