LGBTQ Rights, Moral Boundaries, and Municipal Temporality
LGBTQ Rights, Moral Boundaries, and Municipal Temporality
This chapter discusses how Muslim and non-Muslim American residents in Hamtramck became embroiled in contestation over a proposed municipal ordinance involving the rights of LGBTQ residents to equal access in housing, employment, and public accommodation. The issue brought about an identity rupture between progressives and conservatives in the city, sundering interfaith relationships that had been formed earlier, while new alliances were being built. The chapter analyzes how a sense of moral urgency onboth sides contributed to a temporal sensibility shift that I call “ordinance time.” This schema entailed a loosening of civility standards in rhetorical comportment, encouraging the public expression of Islamophobia and homophobia. In attending to both the pace and tenor of social relations during this tense period, the chapter considers the essentialism attached to religious and secular moralities, while addressing how the municipal debate influenced boundary formation processes.
Keywords: Muslim Americans, rights, LGBTQ, interfaith, temporal sensibility, Islamophobia, homophobia, secular, boundary formation, municipal debate
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