Gay musician buys Michigan town, names it “Gay Hell” in protest of Trump’s Pride flag ban
Elijah Daniel banned any flag other than the Pride flag as part of his ownership of the town
Gay musician and comedian Elijah Daniel, also known by the name Lil Phag, has temporarily bought the town of Hell, Michigan, for Pride month and renamed it “Gay Hell.”
Daniel has also reportedly banned any flag other than Pride flags in the town in protest over the Trump administration’s ban on U.S. embassies flying the Pride flag.
“Ahead of pride month Trump’s administration put a ban on embassy’s flying pride flag,” Daniel tweeted. “So as of today, I am now the owner of Hell, Michigan. I bought the whole town. And my first act as owner, I have renamed my town to Gay Hell, MI. The only flags allowed to fly are pride.”
ahead of pride month Trump’s administration put a ban on embassy’s flying pride flags.
so as of today, I am now the owner of Hell, Michigan. I bought the whole town.
And my first act as owner, I have renamed my town to Gay Hell, MI.
The only flags allowed to fly are pride. pic.twitter.com/AKOcZm2Jvm
— elijah daniel (@elijahdaniel) June 17, 2019
In a follow-up tweet, Daniel proclaimed that the town — which is about 15 miles northwest of Ann Arbor — “has everything,” including “a library, a place to lock your love in Gay Hell, and even a wedding chapel to get gay married in hell!”
Gay Hell, Mi has everything. A library, a place to lock your love in Gay Hell, and even a WEDDING CHAPEL TO GET GAY MARRIED IN HELL! pic.twitter.com/mt2RzgraEx
— elijah daniel (@elijahdaniel) June 17, 2019
Daniel has a connection to the town, after previously serving as Mayor of Hell for a day in 2017.
Hell allows anyone to be mayor for a day for $100, with mayors receiving devil horns, a shirt, and a square inch of property in the town, Mashable reports.
During his 2017 tenure, Daniel responded by banning heterosexuality in the town, tweeting that his “#1 priority is the safety of my town. Until the heterosexual threat has been reviewed we cannot allow them to enter.”
“The straights coming into our town, procreating, having more straight children to take our rightfully gay jobs…. I currently feel as if it would just be safer to ban all heterosexuality until we can assess the situation further and build a strategy to resolve our problem,” he wrote in his 2017 proclamation.
Daniel added that heterosexuals would have to pay a “reproductive precautionary deposit” of $84,000, refundable if they refrained from heterosexuality for one year.
Any who refused to attend “ex-heterosexual therapy” would be forced to wear a scarlet H and “meet in the town center at 5:30am wearing cargo shorts every morning to be publicly straight-shamed.”
Daniel opted to buy and rename Hell to Gay Hell after the Trump administration banned embassies from flying Pride flags in support of Pride month.
At least four embassies in Germany, Israel, Brazil and Latvia requested permission to fly Pride flags on embassy flag poles, but were rejected by the State Department.
The department argued that only the American flag should fly on embassy flagpoles, a reversal on department policy under former President Barack Obama’s tenure.
Speaking last week, Vice President Mike Pence told NBC News that it was “the right decision.”
“As the president said on the night we were elected, we’re proud to be able to serve every American,” Pence said. “We both feel that way very passionately, but when it comes to the American flagpole, and American embassies, and capitals around the world, one American flag flies.”
Support Metro Weekly’s Journalism
These are challenging times for news organizations. And yet it’s crucial we stay active and provide vital resources and information to both our local readers and the world. So won’t you please take a moment and consider supporting Metro Weekly with a membership? For as little as $5 a month, you can help ensure Metro Weekly magazine and MetroWeekly.com remain free, viable resources as we provide the best, most diverse, culturally-resonant LGBTQ coverage in both the D.C. region and around the world. Memberships come with exclusive perks and discounts, your own personal digital delivery of each week’s magazine (and an archive), access to our Member's Lounge when it launches this fall, and exclusive members-only items like Metro Weekly Membership Mugs and Tote Bags! Check out all our membership levels here and please join us today!
You must be logged in to post a comment.