Un articolo del Guardian parla delle polemiche in seguito alla decisione del consiglio municipale di Hamtrack, governata da Amer Ghalib, primo sindaco musulmano di origine yemenita negli Stati Uniti e sostenuto dai democratici, di mostrare solo cinque bandiere sui pennoni degli edifici pubblici, tra cui la bandiera americana, la bandiera del Michigan e quella che rappresenta i paesi nativi dei residenti immigrati.

La decisione, presa all’unanimità dal consiglio comunale, composto da soli uomini e a maggioranza musulmana, sarebbe stata favorevolmente accolta dai residenti conservatori.

In 2015, many liberal residents in Hamtramck, Michigan, celebrated as their city attracted international attention for becoming the first in the United States to elect a Muslim-majority city council.

They viewed the power shift and diversity as a symbolic but meaningful rebuke of the Islamophobic rhetoric that was a central theme of then Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump’s campaign.

This week many of those same residents watched in dismay as a now fully Muslim and socially conservative city council passed legislation banning Pride flags from being flown on city property that had – like many others being flown around the country – been intended to celebrate the LGBTQ+ community.

Muslim residents packing city hall erupted in cheers after the council’s unanimous vote, and on Hamtramck’s social media pages, the taunting has been relentless: “Fagless City”, read one post, emphasized with emojis of a bicep flexing.