Anita Bryant, a Grammy-nominated singer and former beauty queen who became known for her advocacy for gay rights in the 1970s, died Dec. 16. He was 84 years old.
Bryant died surrounded by family and loved ones at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, according to an obituary published Thursday in The Oklahoman, an Oklahoma City newspaper. She began her promising music career as a child before being crowned Miss Oklahoma at age 18.
As an adult, her music career flourished, with Bryant singing at the Democratic and Republican national conventions in 1968 and at the Super Bowl in 1971. She sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s grave. . Bryant again rose to national prominence in the 1970s, serving as a television spokesman for Florida orange juice and Coca-Cola.
Bryant was perhaps best known for her advocacy for gay rights in 1977 and her foray into Florida politics. His “Save Our Children” campaign portrayed gays and lesbians as a threat to the country’s youth. The effort at the time successfully overturned a law recently passed in Miami-Dade County that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment and public services.
“Homosexuals cannot reproduce, so they must recruit. And to refresh their ranks, they must recruit America’s youth,” Bryant stated.
Nearly half a century later, Bryant’s campaign drew parallels to Florida’s education parental rights bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by its opponents. The law, passed in 2022, prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity from “kindergarten through third grade or in a manner that is not appropriate for the age or development of students in accordance with the standards.” state”. A year later it was expanded to apply to eighth grade.
Bryant’s anti-gay rhetoric ultimately led to the downfall of his promising music and television career. The Florida Citrus Commission stopped running her orange juice ads and her booking agent fired her, forcing her to file for bankruptcy twice. And the anti-discrimination ordinance she helped repeal in 1977 was finally restored in 1998.
Bryant’s granddaughter, Sarah Green, who married a woman, told Slate in 2021 that she came out to her grandmother on her 21st birthday. Green told Slate that Bryant responded by saying that homosexuality is not real.
At the end of his life, Bryant led Anita Bryant Ministries International, “an organization that encourages others to live with faith and purpose,” Bryant’s obituary reads.
