Anita Bryant, who became a lightning rod for controversy with her anti-gay activism, passed away at the age of 84.
The singer and former beauty queen died at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, after battling cancer.
Her death on December 16 was announced by the family in an obituary placed in The Oklahoman newspaper on Thursday, January 9.
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The Till There Was You singer, who called homosexuality “an abomination,” was born in 1940 in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, to parents who divorced, remarried, and then divorced once more over the years.
Her staunch Christian faith was developed during her childhood, which included her singing in church and at local fairgrounds.
She began appearing on television by the age of 12 and won local talent shows over the years. By the age of 18, she not only had a recording contract but was also crowned Miss Oklahoma in 1958. She was the second runner-up in the 1959 Miss America pageant.
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Bryant’s fame further intensified as she delivered hits like Paper Roses, Wonderland by Night, and My Little Corner of the World.
Among other achievements, she also sang at the Super Bowl V Halftime Show in 1971 and sang the Battle Hymn of the Republic at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s graveside.
However, her perfect American dream story was marred by her anti-gay advocacy, which began in the 1970s after she decided to protest against an ordinance in Dade County, Florida, prohibiting discrimination based on sexual orientation. The ordinance had granted housing and employment protections for gay people, meaning they couldn’t be evicted or fired from workplaces because of their sexuality.
Bryant's career was marred by her anti-gay advocacy, which began in the 1970s
At the time, Bryant was extremely vocal about her stance against the ordinance and even started the “Save Our Children” campaign, the main argument being that “homosexuals cannot reproduce, so they must recruit. And to freshen their ranks, they must recruit the youth of America.”
Her unfiltered opinions about homosexuality were exposed in a controversial 1978 interview with Playboy magazine.
“It’s a sin under the laws of God. And sin is like leprosy–it starts with just a little speck and you don’t even notice or care. You think, 'That’s not going to hurt me,’ and all of a sudden it begins to spread and you still don’t worry until the sores spread to the shoulder and the pus starts oozing, but by then it’s too late,” she said during the interview.
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“ … The worst thing is that these days, so many married men with children who don’t have a happy marriage are going into the homosexual bars for satisfaction–if they’re not careful, they’re going to get caught up in it totally.”
Bryant admitted that she had never been vocal about her political opinion in her years-long career before the Dade County ordinance in 1977.
When asked why she decided to turn political and oppose the ordinance, she said: “The basic reason was because I am first and foremost a mother, and I was standing up for my rights as a mother to protect my children after I realized what the threat the homosexuals were posing meant.”
Activists fighting for gay rights began boycotting Florida orange juice, one of the products highly marketed by Bryant during her glory days
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Her explanation of the ordinance was that “flaunting homosexuals” could be hired in “the public and the parochial schools.”
“My children attend a religious school,” she added. “Freedom of religion is guaranteed by the Constitution, and if you believe that adultery, homosexuality, drunkenness and things like that violate your religious standards, you then have a right to prevent a teacher from standing up in front of your children and promoting sin.
“We were fighting religious bigotry. What gives the homosexual any more right to stand up in front of children and talk about his sexual preferences than a man who has a great Dane as his lover?”
The singer called homosexuality an "abomination" and a "sin under the laws of God"
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What initially began as a local issue became a national movement, with Bryant turning into a highly polarizing figure of her era.
Activists fighting for gay rights took their own measures when protesting against her views. They began boycotting Florida orange juice, which was one of the products highly marketed by Bryant during her glory days.
“Come to the Florida Sunshine Tree,” she sang in one commercial. “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine!”
Gay bars also began selling a drink called the “Anita Bryant,” which was a typical screwdriver but with apple juice in place of its usual orange juice.
A brief but fiery moment of protest took place against her when a gay activist slammed a banana cream pie in her face during a news conference in Des Moines.
Image credits: Gay and Lesbian Archive of Mid-America / UMKC
“At least it was a fruit pie,” she said right after the pie was flung at her face.
With her face covered in the banana-flavored dessert, she was captured saying a prayer and breaking down.
“We’re praying for him to be delivered from his deviant lifestyle, Father,” she said.
Years later, in a 1990 television interview, she said: “I don’t regret it, because I did the right thing. Sometimes you have to pay a price for what you believe is right.”
"She's the first person I remember hating," a reader commented
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