‘A sense of betrayal’: liberal dismay as Muslim-led US city bans Pride flags

Darren Shelton, executive director of Planet Ant Theatre, came to work on his day off so that he could hang this LGBTQ+ flag in Hamtramck, Michigan, on Tuesday. Photograph: Robin Buckson/AP

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.