Ellen Page grilled Ted Cruz on LGBT rights at the Iowa State Fair

Ellen Page
(Image credit: Screenshot)

An unsuspecting Ted Cruz was grilling pork chops at the Iowa State Fair when actress Ellen Page, wearing a hat and sunglasses, snuck up alongside him with a couple questions at the ready, ABC News reports. A video of the interaction begins with Page, 28, demanding to know, "What about the question [of] LGBT people being fired for just strictly being gay or trans?"

Cruz replies, "Well, what we're seeing right now is actually we're seeing Bible-believing Christians being persecuted."

"Yeah, for discriminating against LGBT people," Page interrupts. Cruz and Page go back and forth for about five minutes, both remaining relatively calm, until Cruz cuts off the conversation and returns to his chops.

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Page, who came out as gay on Valentine's Day last year at the Human Rights Campaign Foundation's inaugural Time to Thrive conference, works as an outspoken LGBT advocate and stars alongside Julianne Moore in Freeheld, an upcoming film about a police officer and her registered domestic partner's battle for pension benefits, out this fall.

Cruz, meanwhile, reportedly said he had no idea that he was confronted by the star of the 2007 indie teen pregnancy comedy Juno. Maybe it was the hat?

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Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.