Caught on camera: The moment Michelle Obama 'got right in' face of lesbian activist after being heckled during a fundraiser

First lady loses her cool and said: 'Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving. You all decide'

Protester was angry about President's failure to order federal contractors to stop discriminating against gays and lesbians in hiring

The official pool reporter caught the fracas, but the White House later released a transcript that omitted the entire exchange

'I simply couldn't stay silent any longer,' the heckler said later



The president supports an 'Employment Non-Discrimination Act,' but promised when campaigning in 2008 to sign an executive order instead



The video of the moment when a gay rights activist heckled the First Lady was caught on tape and has now been released to show the tense exchange.



After she was interrupted, Michelle Obama threatened to leave the Democratic National Committee fundraiser unless the activist, identified later as Ellen Sturtz, was removed.



'It felt like she was within a few inches – in my face,' Ms Sturtz told ABC News , in an account that several witnesses have corroborated.



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The beginning: Michelle Obama was speaking at a DNC fundraiser on Tuesday when she was interrupted by a heckler

Taking action: She then stepped down from the platform and went right up to the heckler and had words before walking in the other direction and flashing her hand







The video, obtained by CNN , shows how the First Lady got down from her platform and went directly over to the heckler and told her to stop or else she was going to leave and allow her to finish.



The crowd cheered for Mrs Obama and told the heckler to stop talking.



The First Lady then walked aside, going over to talk to other supporters briefly- as if to shake off the incident- before returning to the lectern.



Starting off smiling: The First Lady approached the heckler with a smile but when the woman would not stop Mrs Obama turned stiff

Losing her cool: The heckler said that the First Lady 'got up in her face'

Striking a deal: She offered the choice of her leaving or the heckler

With the crowd cheering for her, she headed back on stage to continue the talk on education

Moments before the confrontation, Sturtz had interrupted Obama to demand that her husband sign an executive order barring discrimination by federal contractors based on sexual orientation.

Don't mess: Mrs Obama said dealing with hecklers was 'one thing I'm not good at'

'One of the things I don't do well is this,' Mrs Obama replied to loud applause, according to a pool report. 'Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving. You all decide. You have one choice.'

The crowd urged the first lady to stay, and she returned to the podium to continue speaking. White House Press Secretary Jay Carney later said that Mrs Obama handled the interruption 'brilliantly.'



Sturtz described herself to ABC News as an 'old, grey-haired lesbian' and said she felt compelled to interrupt Mrs Obama because she doesn't feel she has the time to wait around for action on gay rights.

'I’m too old to wait for it,' she said. 'I don’t want to see us continue to be second-class citizens.'

Sturtz is an activist for the pro-LGBT rights group GetEQUAL and she was one of four protestors a the event.

But when the White House's transcript arrived, The Daily Caller reported Tuesday night, it didn't include any indication of an acrimonious exchange -- and was missing Mrs. Obama's threat to leave the event.

The only indication in that transcript that anything was amiss is a note about an '(Inaudible audience interruption.)'

Back to the routine: After asking the audience if they wanted the heckler to talk or for the First Lady to continue speaking, she decided to go back up on stage

'I lived and worked in the closet, hiding who I was in order to earn a living,' Sturtz said in a statement late Tuesday night.

GetEQUAL activist Ellen Sturtz heckled Michelle Obama on Tuesday night, demanding that the president sign an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating in their hiring on the basis of sexual orientation

'I had planned to speak tonight with DNC officials but, as the First Lady was talking about our children's future and ensuring that they have everything they need to live happy and productive lives, I simply couldn't stay silent any longer.'

'I'm looking ahead at a generation of young people who could live full, honest, and open lives with the stroke of the President's pen,' she insisted.



The home where the heckling happened belongs to power couple Karen Dixon and Nan Schaffer, formerly of Chicago, who have hosted fundraisers for the Obamas in the past, including one that raised $1.4 million for the president's reelection campaign in February 2012.

Dixon is an attorney who serves on the national board of Lambda Legal, an organization working for LGBT rights.



Her spouse, Schaffer, is a veterinarian who works to preserve the rhino population through artificial insemination.



She is also a minority shareholder in Windy City Media Group and founded Outlines, a Chicago newspaper, in 1987.







The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

But White House Press Secretary Jay Carney took an oddly coincidental question earlier in the day during his regularly scheduled briefing about the same discrimination issue that had Sturtz shouting at the top of her lungs.

The home where the heckling happened belongs to power couple Karen Dixon and Nan Schaffer, formerly of Chicago, who have hosted fundraisers for the Obamas in the past

Karen Dixon, pictured (left) is an attorney who serves on the national board of Lambda Legal, an organization working for LGBT rights. Her partner Schaffer, (right), is a veterinarian who works to preserve the rhino population through artificial insemination

A reporter asked Carney for a progress report on 'a study of LGBT workplace discrimination possibly led by the Council of Economic Advisors,' which was commissioned in 2012 after the president declined to sign an executive order banning the practice.

'I don't have any updated status on that for you,' Carney said. 'I can tell you that the president has long supported, as you know, an inclusive Employment Non-Discrimination Act. ... And his administration will continue to work to build support for it.'

White House press secretary Jay Carney took a moment Tuesday from his 'patent troll' discussion to parry a question about the presidents plan to ban federal contractors' workplace discrimination against gays

'The president's record on support for LGBT rights is significant and well known,' Obama's chief spokesman added.

