Anita Bryant, a former beauty queen who became anti-gay, dies at the age of 84

Anita Bryant, the Grammy-nominated singer and former beauty queen who became famous for her opposition to gay rights in the 1970s, died on December 16. She was 84 years old.

According to analysts, Bryant died surrounded by family and loved ones at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma an obituary published Thursday in The Oklahomannewspaper in Oklahoma City. She began her promising music career as a child and was crowned Miss Oklahoma at the age of 18.

As an adult, her musical career blossomed, and Bryant sang 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 the graveside of President Lyndon B. Johnson. Bryant again gained national prominence in the 1970s, serving as a television spokesman for Florida Orange Juice and Coca-Cola.

Bryant was perhaps best known for her opposition to gay rights in 1977 and her entry into Florida politics. Her “Save Our Children” campaign portrayed gays and lesbians as a threat to the country’s youth. The efforts at that time effectively repealed a newly enacted Miami-Dade County law that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing, employment and public services.

“Homosexuals can’t reproduce, so they have to recruit. To refresh their ranks, they must recruit America’s youth,” Bryant famously declared.

Nearly half a century later, Bryant’s campaign drew parallels to the parental rights in education bill passed in Florida, called the “Don’t Say You’re Gay” bill by its opponents. The bill, which passed in 2022, prohibits classroom teaching about sexual orientation or gender identity “in kindergarten through grade 3 or in a manner that is inappropriate to the age or development of students in accordance with state standards.” A year later it was expanded apply for admission to the eighth grade.

Bryant’s anti-gay rhetoric ultimately led to the demise of her promising music and television career. The Florida Citrus Commission stopped running ads for her orange juice and the booking agent rejected her ads, forcing her to file for bankruptcy twice. Ultimately, the anti-discrimination ordinance she helped repeal in 1977 was finally passed restored in 1998.

Bryant’s granddaughter, Sarah Green, who married a woman he told Slate in 2021 that she went out to her grandmother on her 21st birthday. Green told Slate that Bryant responded by saying homosexuality isn’t real.

Near the end of her life, Bryant led Anita Bryant Ministries International, “an organization that encourages others to live with faith and purpose,” Bryant’s obituary said.