Anita Bryant, a Grammy-nominated singer and former beauty queen who became known for her advocacy against gay rights in the 1970s, died Dec. 16. She was 84.
Bryant died surrounded by family and loved ones at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, according to an obituary posted Thursday in The Oklahoman, a newspaper in Oklahoma City. She started her promising music career as a child before being crowned Miss Oklahoma at age 18.
As an adult, her career in music blossomed, with Bryant singing at both Democratic and Republican national conventions in 1968 and the Super Bowl in 1971. She sang “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” at President Lyndon B. Johnson’s graveside. Bryant again achieved national prominence in the 1970s, serving as the TV spokesperson for Florida orange juice and for Coca-Cola.
Bryant was perhaps most well-known for her advocacy against gay rights in 1977 and foray into Florida politics. Her “Save Our Children” campaign painted gays and lesbians as a threat to the country’s youth. The effort at the time successfully overturned a then-newly passed Miami-Dade County law that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation in housing, employment and public services.
“Homosexuals cannot reproduce, so they must recruit. And to freshen their ranks, they must recruit the youth of America,” Bryant famously declared.
Nearly half a century later, Bryant’s campaign drew parallels to Florida’s Parental Rights in Education bill, dubbed the “Don’t Say Gay” bill by its opponents. The law, which passed in 2022, prohibits classroom instruction on sexual orientation or gender identity in “kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is not age-appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards.” A year later it was expanded to apply through eighth grade.
Bryant’s anti-gay rhetoric ultimately led to the downfall of her promising music and television career. The Florida Citrus Commission stopped running her orange juice ads and she was dropped by her booking agent, forcing her to file for bankruptcy twice. And the antidiscrimination ordinance she helped repeal in 1977 was ultimately 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 homosexuality isn’t real.
At the end of her life, Bryant led Anita Bryant Ministries International, “an organization encouraging others to live with faith and purpose,” Bryant’s obituary reads.
