First Lady Heckled by Gay Rights Advocate, Threatens to Leave Event
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Alex Wong/Getty Images(WASHINGTON) — First Lady Michelle Obama was heckled by a gay rights advocate at a fundraiser Tuesday night and responded by threatening to leave the event, telling the protester, in effect, it’s you or me.
Shortly after 6:00 p.m., the first lady was delivering a speech at a Democratic National Committee event at a private home in Washington when a protester began shouting for the president to sign an executive order to protect gay and lesbian rights, according to reports.
“One of the things I don’t do well is this,” Mrs. Obama reportedly responded to loud applause. She then left the podium and walked toward the heckler, saying she could, “listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.”
The protester was later identified as Ellen Sturtz, an activist for the pro-LGBT rights group GetEQUAL.
The crowd begged for the first lady to stay and one woman near Sturtz shouted “you need to go!”
Sturtz was reportedly escorted out, identifying herself as a, “lesbian looking for federal equality before I die.”
GetEQUAL later contacted White House reporters and said Sturtz was calling for an executive order to bar discrimination by federal contractors based on sexual orientation or gender identity.
The event, which was also attended by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., the chair of the Democratic National Committee, was held at the home of Karen Dixon and Nan Schaffer in Washington.
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