Elizabeth Warren did something in Iowa over the weekend that most male politicians do not do often (with the exception of former Speaker of the House John Boehner and, on occasion, former president Barack Obama): She got choked up when responding to an emotional question from a young voter named Raelyn.

“I was wondering if there was ever a time in your life where somebody you really looked up to maybe didn’t accept you as much,” said Raelyn, a 17-year-old high school student from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who provided only her first name, her voice starting to break, “and how you dealt with that?” Raelyn later told ABC News she is a member of the LGBTQ community and felt compelled to ask the question after conversations with family over Thanksgiving.

As it happens, Warren had experienced such a thing, and her answer before the crowd in Marion, Iowa seemed to make her equally verklempt. “Yeah,” Warren said, seeming to collect herself. “My mother and I had very different views of how to build a future. She wanted me to marry well, and I really tried, and it just didn’t work out. And there came a day when I had to call her and say, ‘This is over. I can’t make it work.’ And I heard the disappointment in her voice. I knew how she felt about it,” Warren said, at times losing her voice to tears. “But I also knew it was the right thing to do.”

Warren then invited Raelyn onstage for a hug, during which the teen appeared to break down. “Sometimes you just gotta do what’s right inside and hope that maybe the rest of the world will come around to it,” Warren had told Raelyn. “Maybe they will and maybe they won’t, but the truth is, you gotta take care of yourself first.”