YouTube star and musician Elijah Daniel says he's the new owner of Hell, Michigan - and he's renamed it.
Daniel, 25, announced on Tuesday that he bought the town of Hell, Michigan, and officially renamed it Gay Hell. In 2017, Daniel was also Mayor of Hell and banned heterosexual people in the town as a stunt.
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He said it is an act of protest against the Trump administration recently rejecting requests from U.S. embassies to fly the rainbow flag, a symbol of gay pride, during the month of June in celebration of LGBTQ Pride Month.
ahead of pride month Trump’s administration put a ban on embassy’s flying pride flags.
— elijah daniel, PhD (@elijahdaniel) June 17, 2019
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
The town is about 15 miles northwest of Ann Arbor and is believed to have a population of about 70 people.
Daniel told NBC News in a phone interview on Monday that his flag rule is intended as a joke and there will not be a ban on other flags.
"I have a young audience who is 16 to 24 who would not be involved in politics if it wasn’t in a funny or meme way," Daniel said. "I'm just trying to have fun and get my audience politically active."
Daniel is from Michigan and says that he always drove past the town growing up. He also grew up "very religious" and was told a lot if you're gay you go to Hell, Daniel said.
Daniel says he can't disclose how much he paid to be mayor for two weeks as he is in the process of purchasing the town permanently, according to CNN.