Anita Bryant, Notorious Flop and Homophobic Paragon, Dead

It came to light via obituary this past week that Anita Bryant, a former beauty queen and singer responsible for a large portion of anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric that emerged in the 1970s, quietly passed away from cancer on December 16 at the age of 84.

Bryant was named Miss Oklahoma in 1958 and became a singer in the 1960s before choosing to advocate against a ban of anti-gay discrimination in Dade County, Florida in 1977. This move made her one of the most notorious homophobic figures in recent history, even going so far within her career to advocate for homosexuality to be a felony in the United States. She founded the “Save Our Children” movement against gay rights, creating the notion that queer people prey on children which is still extremely prevalent in conservative schools of thought today.

Putting all her eggs in the anti-gay basket ended up completely tanking her career—Two months after her hateful take on LGBTQ+ rights emerged, a producer informed Bryant that her “controversial political activities” meant she would not be hired for a variety show pilot she was scheduled to film. She was effectively blacklisted, with her $100,000-per-year advertising contract through the Florida Citrus Commission being cancelled before the 70s came to an end.

To come to maybe the most spectacular highlight of her so-called career, on October 14 of 1977, Bryant was pied—yes, as in banana cream—in the face during a news conference in Des Moines by a protestor (an act echoed in the art of ‘milkshaking’ right-wing leaders). As they walked away, she began to pray and then broke down into tears, all on candid television camera. She proceeded to try to relaunch her career from 1980 forward with TV specials and one sad tour that was mocked endlessly on other, more popular television shows in 1988.

Bryant was a laughingstock, ultimately, especially among the queer community at the time. Activists heralded to her FCC spokeswoman background, making pins saying “Anita Bryant Sucks Oranges” and organizing orange juice boycotts at gay bars throughout America. A drink called The Anita Bryant, a cocktail of apple juice and vodka, replaced the timeless screwdriver. Drag queens held lookalike contests during Pride in 1977, which reportedly increased attendance at the marches. To add fuel to the fire, her granddaughter, Sarah Green, is an out bisexual woman who married her wife in July of 2021. All this to say, the thing she may be most famous for, despite being the spearhead of dangerous anti-queer rhetoric that still holds up today, is being a flop.

Photo courtesy of social media