--- description: Ellen Page approached the Republican presidential candidate to ask him about LGBT rights and persecution on Friday. title: Watch Ellen Page Grill Ted Cruz on LGBT Rights image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [Politics](/section/politics/) ## Politics Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # Watch Ellen Page Grill Ted Cruz Over LGBT Rights  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 7:59 PM CUT  by [Julia Zorthian](/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Aug 21, 2015 7:59 PM CUT The actress Ellen Page [confronted](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ellen-page-confronts-ted-cruz-gay-rights-iowa/story?id=33231236 "undefined") Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz on his position on gay rights at the Iowa State fair Friday, surprising the U.S. senator for Texas while he grilled pork chops. The two spoke for about five minutes after Page, who is gay, asked about LGBT people “being fired for being gay-trans” and Cruz countered that “we’re seeing Bible-believing Christians being persecuted for living according to their faith.” The exchange was recorded by ABC News. Cruz then asked Page whether she knew about persecution of gay people in Iran and at the hands of ISIS. Cruz, who opposes same-sex marriage, told ABC afterward that he did not realize he was speaking with Page, an Academy Award-nominated actress who came out last year on Valentine’s Day. He added they had discussed religious liberty. \[[_ABC News_](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/ellen-page-confronts-ted-cruz-gay-rights-iowa/story?id=33231236 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4006742/ellen-page-ted-cruz-lgbt-iowa-state-fair/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4006742/ellen-page-ted-cruz-lgbt-iowa-state-fair/"},"headline":"Watch Ellen Page Grill Ted Cruz Over LGBT Rights","datePublished":"2015-08-21T19:59:52.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T10:21:41.156Z","description":"The actress surprised the Republican presidential candidate at the Iowa State Fair","url":"https://time.com/4006742/ellen-page-ted-cruz-lgbt-iowa-state-fair/","keywords":["2016 Election topic","GOP","ted cruz","lgbt rights","2016 Republicans"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Julia Zorthian","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4006742/ellen-page-ted-cruz-lgbt-iowa-state-fair/","name":"Watch Ellen Page Grill Ted Cruz Over LGBT Rights"}}]}] ```