A former US mayor is fearful that people from the LGBT+ community no longer feel safe in her city after a seismic shift in demographics.
Hamtramck, Michigan became the first city in the United States to elect a Muslim-majority council in 2015.
But last year, the city council sparked furore by unanimously voting to pass legislation banning Pride flags from being flown on city property.
Speaking to Steven Edginton in GBN America’s documentary, America’s Muslim City, the town’s former mayor, Karen Majewski, admitted she is concerned about the treatment afforded to the LGBT+ community in her area.
“I have been told by many that they (LGBT+ people) don’t feel safe here anymore”, she said.
“I have been told by people who used to shop here, go to businesses here, that they no longer feel safe coming here.”
Asked by Steven whether this has shifted her stance on migrants travelling to the US from Middle East countries that tend to have strict LGBT+ laws, Majewski admitted she remains “not that concerned”.
“Any immigrant community evolves and changes as it experiences life here”, she said.
“I noticed yesterday a young Muslim couple, probably in their early 20s walking down the street.”
One of the businesses in Hamtramck affected by the toughened stance on LGBT+ flags was the Piast Institute, a national research and policy centre for Polish and Polish-American affairs.
CEO and co-founder Virginia L. Skrzyniarz told Steven on GBN America that a flag flying her institute’s headquarters had been put in the bin.
“Every year for years we put up a flag during Pride Months”, she said.
“The mayor (Majewski) came by in the morning and found our flag in the garbage.
“It was four, young boys, possibly Muslim. We did not put it back up because we don’t want to aggravate anyone.
“I cannot tell you how many people were upset with me because they did not put him in jail.”
Despite Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump using language about Muslims that has been deemed divisive, polls suggest many are set to back the former president at the upcoming election.
Supporters cite Joe Biden’s stance on the Israel-Gaza conflict for their voting stance. The incumbent president has been accused of being too close to Israel, sparking dismay amongst youngsters and Muslims across America.
Asked about many potentially turning their back on the Democrats and voting for Trump as a result, Majewski branded people who fit into that category as “crazy”.
“They will shoot themselves in their own foot”, she said.
“Have they forgotten about the Muslim ban? Have they forgotten about everything?”
Mayor Amer Ghalib told The Guardian in 2021 that LGBT+ supporters had stoked tension by “forcing their agendas on others”.
“There is an overreaction to the situation, and some people are not willing to accept the fact that they lost”, he said.