First lady Michelle Obama faced off with a heckler who interrupted her speech at the Democratic National Committee fundraiser in Washington, DC Tuesday night.
According to the New York Times, Mrs. Obama was about 12 minutes into her 20-minute speech when a woman "at the front of a crowd of about 200 people began shouting for President Obama to issue an executive order barring federal contractors from discriminating against employees based on sexual orientation or gender identity." In response, the FLOTUS threatened to leave the fundraiser if the gay rights activist didn't pipe down.
"One of the things I don't do well is this," the first lady said after being interrupted. According to a White House pool report of the event, she then left the lectern, moved toward the protester and said the person could either, quote, "listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving."
As the crowd started shouting for Obama to stay, the protester was escorted out of the event and could be heard shouting that she was a "lesbian looking for federal equality before I die," according to the NYT.
The Washington Post reports that witnesses claimed the first lady confronted the protester "eye-to-eye."
The heckler was later indentified as Ellen Sturtz, an organizer with GetEqual, a national social justice organization fighting for the full equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Americans.
In an interview, Sturtz told the Post that she was stunned by the first lady's response to her heckling. "She came right down in my face," Sturtz said. "I was taken aback."
Listen to the audio below.
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