'Stop Being So Theatrical!' LGBTQ Poll Worker Shamed by Judge

A gay poll worker in Kansas City, Kansas, says they encountered homophobia and discriminatory treatment while volunteering on Election Day, local newspaper the Kansas City Star reports.

Jae Moyer, who uses they/them pronouns, described how the supervising judge they were working with at the polling place directed personal comments at them.

"She (the judge) said, 'You're quite flamboyant, you're quite theatrical, you need to stop being so theatrical.'" Moyer recounted, local news channel Fox 4 reported.

Moyer, attempting to joke with the supervisor, responded by suggesting the reason for it was that Moyer was gay.

"The supervising judge seemed to recoil at that idea," reported the Kansas City Star.

"I felt like almost she was, you know, treating it like my identity, my sexuality were like taboo or dirty or something like that," Moyer said in a video clip they made of themself recounting the events of the day.

"This woman (was) kind of discriminating against me," Moyer asserted, according to the Kansas City Star report. "As an LGBTQ person, I felt uncomfortable."

Moyer had the sense of being targeted by the supervising judge throughout the day, the media reports said.

"I think that a lot of people do that in our society," Moyer opined. "I think that people single people out for differences and treat them differently because of it and I don't think that it's okay."

Added Moyer: "It's important that we start calling it out and we start educating people on how their words really can be more harmful than they realize."

Moyer reported the incidents to Connie Schmidt, the interim election commissioner. Schmidt apologized to Moyer and told the press, "I think anybody that serves as a poll worker is my hero,"

Watch the Fox News clip below.

Note: The report refers to Moyer using masculine pronouns despite Moyer using they/them pronouns.