“Listen to me or you can take the mic, but I’m leaving,” the first lady told the heckler. A woman who identified herself as a “lesbian looking for federal equality before I die” interrupted the event, shouting for the president to sign an executive order banning federal contractors from LGBT discrimination.

Via: Win McNamee / Getty Images

WASHINGTON — First Lady Michelle Obama was heckled at a private fundraiser Tuesday night, pressed for action her husband has not taken to issue an executive order banning federal contractors from discriminating against LGBT employees and job applicants.

Michelle Obama responded telling the woman, "[L]isten to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving." The woman was escorted out, according to the White House pool report, continuing to shout that she was a "lesbian looking for federal equality before I die."

The heckling happened a bit after 6 p.m. under a white tent in the backyard of the residence of Karen Dixon and Nan Schaffer in Northwest DC. Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, the chair of the Democratic National Committee, also was in attendance at the event, which benefits the DNC.

The incident came hours after White House press secretary Jay Carney reiterated the president's focus being on legislation, the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, that would ban most private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation or gender identity, and not the proposed executive order.

Obama himself had, however, committed in 2008 to supporting a federal nondiscrimination policy based on sexual orientation or gender identity for federal contractors as president, a commitment this reporter published at Metro Weekly last year.

According to the pool report:

Most notable part of the event was an interruption from a protester about 12 minutes into the 20-minute speech. A pro-LGBT rights individual standing at the front began shouting for an executive order on gay rights. (Pool did not hear exactly what.)
"One of the things I don't do well is this," replied FLOTUS to loud applause. She left the lectern and moved over to the protester, saying they could "listen to me or you can take the mic, but I'm leaving. You all decide. You have one choice."
Crowd started shouting that they wanted FLOTUS to stay.
"You need to go!" said one woman near the protester.
The protester was then escorted out, shouting "...lesbian looking for federal equality before I die." (First part of the quote was inaudible.) Pool could not get their name before they were taken out.
"So let me make the point that I was making before," continued FLOTUS. "We are here for our kids. So we must recapture that passion. That same urgency and energy that we felt back in 2008, 2012. Understand this -- this is what I want you all to understand. This is not about us. No one back here. It's not about you or you or your issue or your thing. This is about our children."
Loud applause in response to this comment.

Update at 8:50 p.m.: Get Equal's Heather Cronk confirmed to BuzzFeed that the activist organization planned the heckling. The activist was identified to the pool reporter by Cronk as Ellen Sturtz.