Matt Gehlbach is a San Jose firefighter.
For 7 years, he's shown up on the worst days of strangers' lives. He's pulled people from wreckage, carried them to safety, and never once asked who they voted for, who they love, or what they believe.
In 7 years, he has never received a single complaint. Not one. No accusations of bias. No disciplinary issues. Just a man doing his job.
Then, because of two off-duty social media posts, everything he's built is under attack.
Outside the department, Matt is also a business owner. He runs two small companies. One is a workout supplement company called Morning Would. The other is online personal training. Like most businesses today, posting content is what makes both of these work.
If he's not posting content, his businesses won't grow. So he posts. That's the job.
When you live two lives like that, they eventually bleed into each other. His content showed his real life. His commute to the station, his workouts, his personality, his family, everything.
Up until recently, nobody had a problem with that.
In 2024, the San Jose Fire Department did a collaborative post with him. They knew about his content, supported it, and were happy to be part of it.
Then a reporter named Damian Trujillo at NBC Bay Area decided to build a story around two of his off-duty posts.
One where he was listening to the President of the United States on his drive to work. And one where he called a fitness trend "gay" as a joke.
The kind of joke you hear on every comedy show, in every firehouse, and in every group chat in America.
The story framed those two posts alongside references to pedophilia and drug dealing before cutting to him with the words "and now this."
The media, his union president, and even the Oakland Fire Chief are now trying to pin Matt as a racist and a homophobe. They want him to accept those labels. Lay down. Shut up. Move on.
He can't do that.
Not because he's stubborn. Because it's not true.
When he shows up to a call, he doesn't check anyone's politics, pronouns, or preferences before he throws them over his shoulder and carries them out. Firefighters save everyone. His record proves it.
Since this story broke, other first responders have reached out to Matt saying the same thing happened to them. They got punished for speaking freely on their own time.
They got told to shut up or lose everything. Most of them did shut up. They didn't have anyone in their corner.
Matt does. And he's choosing to stand up.
Not just for himself. For every firefighter, EMT, paramedic, and public servant who's been told that having a personality off the clock is a fireable offense.
For his brothers and sisters who are watching this and wondering if they're next.
What the media, the union, and the department are doing right now is the equivalent of throwing gasoline on someone while they're trapped in a burning building.
These are the people who are supposed to have his back. Instead, they're using his situation to score political points and advance their own careers.
The union president threw him under the bus on camera. The Oakland Fire Chief issued a memo with false information claiming the posts were made on duty. They weren't.
A reporter built a false equivalency comparing him to criminals. None of these people care about the truth. They care about the headline.
Matt needs to make sure they don't feel this confident doing it to the next person. Because if they get away with it here, they will do it again.
To someone who doesn't have the support he has. To someone who can't fight back.
The difference between Matt and the people trying to silence him is simple.
He cares about the people he serves. They care about what serving those people can do for their careers.
He doesn't judge who he's saving. They don't judge who they're sacrificing.
Because he's chosen to take this stand, Matt will very likely lose his job.
When that hit him, so did something else. His business is no longer a side project. It's the only thing standing between his family and nothing.
He didn't plan it that way. He made a decision to fight, and that's the consequence he accepted.
Now he's asking for your help. And he wants to give something back in return.
Stand With Matt
Every dollar goes toward keeping Matt and his family on their feet while he fights this battle and makes sure it doesn't happen to the next person.
Donate NowYou'll be taken to Matt's fundraiser page.
Want to follow Matt's fight as it unfolds? Join the list for updates.
Every person who donates $28 or more will receive a free tub of Morning Would, shipped to your door. This is his way of saying thank you for standing with him when the people who were supposed to didn't.
To claim yours, email [email protected] after you donate with your full name, donation amount, shipping address, and the flavor you want. We'll verify it and get it out to you.
Once his family is taken care of, the fight doesn't stop.
Matt's already been contacted by other first responders this happened to. Firefighters, EMTs, cops. Told to shut up or lose everything. Most of them did shut up. They didn't have anyone in their corner.
Every dollar beyond what his family needs goes toward changing that. Legal connections. Financial support. Whatever it takes to make sure the next person doesn't have to go through it alone.
If this gets big enough, Morning Would becomes something more than a supplement company. It becomes a brand that actually stands behind the people who stand for everyone else.
If you're tired of watching good people get silenced for nothing, stand with Matt.
Donate and share his story.
Ronaldo Del Duca