As he flipped pork on a large grill at the Iowa State Fair, Senator Ted Cruz was engaged in an active discussion over same-sex marriage and gay, bisexual and transgender rights with a hat-and-sunglasses-clad attendee.

It turned out to be the actress Ellen Page.

For roughly four minutes, Ms. Page and Mr. Cruz debated gay rights and religious liberty, with Mr. Cruz retelling his oft-told story of the Odgaards, a Mennonite couple from Iowa who were fined for preventing a same-sex couple from using their wedding venue, and Ms. Page laying out the discriminations felt by L.G.B.T. people in the workplace.

Watch the entire exchange, as captured by ABC News.