Anti-Gay Campaigner Anita Bryant Dies Aged 84

Anita Bryant, a former chart-topping singer whose legacy is defined by her staunch opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, has died at the age of 84.

Her family announced on Thursday (9 January) that Bryant passed away on 16 December at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma.

She is survived by her four children, two stepdaughters, and seven grandchildren.

“May Anita’s memory and her faith in eternal life through Christ comfort all who embraced her,” they said upon announcing her passing.

Anita Bryant: A history of anti-gay activism

Anita Bryant began her career in music, where she gained prominence with hits such as Paper Roses and My Little Corner of the World in the early 1960s.

Her talent and wholesome image led to three Grammy nominations and high-profile performances, including at the Super Bowl halftime show in 1971 and on tours with entertainer Bob Hope for US troops overseas. She also made a mark as a beauty queen, crowned Miss Oklahoma in 1958 and finishing as a runner-up in the Miss America pageant the following year.

However, Bryant’s later years were dominated not by her music but by her controversial and damaging anti-gay activism.

In 1977, she spearheaded the “Save Our Children” campaign in Florida to repeal a Dade County ordinance that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation.

Anita Bryant argued that protecting gay rights infringed on the rights of Christians, infamously claiming that LGBTQ+ people were seeking to “recruit” children.

“The recruitment of our children is absolutely necessary for the survival and growth of homosexuality,” she told Playboy in 1978, adding, “As a mother, I know homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children. Therefore, they must recruit our children.”

This rhetoric framed Bryant’s activism, which she claimed was motivated by her Christian faith.

While asserting that she “loved homosexuals but hated their sin,” her actions perpetuated harmful stereotypes and stoked fears about the LGBTQ+ community.

Her campaign succeeded in overturning the Dade County protections, but it came at great personal and professional cost. Gay rights groups and allies launched widespread boycotts of Florida orange juice, for which Bryant had been a spokesperson, leading to the loss of her lucrative endorsement deals.

Her career never recovered, and she faced ridicule from comedians and criticism even within conservative circles.

Bryant’s notoriety was cemented in 1977 when gay rights activist Thomas L. Higgins hit her with a pie during a televised press conference.

“At least it’s a fruit pie,” she quipped before bursting into tears.

Her personal life also unravelled. She divorced her husband and manager Bob Green in 1980, a move that alienated many of her Christian supporters. In the years following, she faced financial struggles, including filing for bankruptcy.

Despite her efforts, history moved on without Bryant.

LGBTQ+ rights advanced in the decades after her campaign, and in 2021, her own granddaughter, Sarah Green, came out as gay and later married another woman.