Controversial beauty queen Anita Bryant dead at 82 decades after fighting against gay rights
Anita Bryant, a former Miss Oklahoma and Grammy-nominated singer known for her opposition to LGBTQ+ rights, has died at the age of 84.
The controversial entertainer died on December 16 at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, according to a family statement shared Thursday The Oklahoman website. The cause of death has not been announced.
Anita Bryant’s musical talent emerged early and showcased her gifted voice. At the age of 12, she was already presenting her own local television show.
A devout Christian all her life, she received three Grammy nominations: two for Best Sacred Performance and one for Best Spiritual Performance.
She went on to win the Miss Oklahoma crown in 1958 and enjoyed a successful music career with hits such as “Till There Was You” and “Paper Roses.”
By the late 1960s, she had achieved national fame performing for foreign troops with Bob Hope, entertaining at the White House, and singing at both Democratic and Republican National Conventions.
She also gained widespread recognition as a spokesperson, famously promoting Florida orange juice with the iconic slogan, “A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
But her career took a controversial turn in the late 1970s when she became an outspoken opponent of LGBTQ+ rights.
Anita Bryant, a former Miss Oklahoma and Grammy-nominated singer, died on December 16 at the age of 84 at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma.
Bryant’s activism against LGBTQ+ rights led to widespread backlash, including boycotts of products she supported and public protests
She led the Save Our Children campaign and successfully overturned a Miami-Dade County ordinance protecting LGBTQ+ people from discrimination.
This campaign, backed by figures such as Pastor Jerry Falwell, used inflammatory rhetoric, condemned the LGBTQ+ community and called gay people “human waste.”
Bryant’s activism led to widespread backlash, including boycotts of products she endorsed and public protests.
LGBTQ+ activists organized boycotts of products she supported, created mocking T-shirts and even named a cocktail after her – a twist on the screwdriver that replaced orange juice with apple juice.
During a 1977 press conference in Des Moines, Iowa, she was hit in the face with a pie by an activist.
“Well, at least it’s a fruit pie,” she said before praying for the protester.
In Florida, Anita Bryant’s legacy is both contested and continued. The ban on sexual discrimination that she wanted to repeal was reintroduced in 1998.
Bryant spent her later years in Oklahoma, where she led Anita Bryant Ministries International.
A pie is thrown at Anita Bryant during a press conference on October 14, 1977 in Des Moines, Iowa
Bryant was married to Bob Green for twenty years and divorced in 1980.
She later married Charlie Hobson Dry in 1990, who predeceased her earlier in the year.
According to her family’s statement, she is survived by four children, two stepdaughters and seven grandchildren.