Anita Bryant, anti-gay rights activist and singer, dead at 84

(NEXSTAR) — Anita Bryant Dry, known popularly Anita Bryant — a singer and crusader against the progress of gay rights — has died at the age of 84, her family announced in an obituary posted Thursday. She died Dec. 16 at her Edmond, Okla., home.

Bryant, a Barnsdall, Okla., native, rose to prominence in the 1950s, becoming both a Miss Oklahoma and a charting music career. Among Bryant's notable hits are "Till There Was You" and "In My Little Corner of the World."

Bryant was a noted singer for televised and political events, including singing at the Super Bowl V Halftime Show in 1971. She was also noted for being the TV spokesperson for Florida orange juice and was featured in national commercials through the 1970s.

(Original Caption) Norfolk, Virginia: Anita Bryant is near tears as several hundred demonstrators walked out during a talk about homosexuals to a New Crusade to Norfolk's Scope Wednesday night. (Credit: Bettmann/Getty Images)

But the majority of Bryant's notoriety came from her crusade against gay rights in the late 1970s, which began with her advocating against a Florida ordinance that banned discrimination based on sexual orientation. Bryant led a coalition called Save Our Children against the gay rights movement.

Among views that Bryant publicized were the damaging historical fallacy that homosexual people "recruit" children through sexual abuse. The concept has been disproven by a variety of studies which show that sexual orientation has no correlation with whether or not someone will abuse children.

Bryant's anti-gay focus made her a prominent conservative fixture and persona non grata among everyone else. It's also been asserted that Bryant was one of the first people to be "pied" in public. The incident happened during a televised appearance in Iowa, in which writer and gay rights activist Thom L. Higgins hit her in the face with a pie.

(Original Caption) Des Moines: Entertainer-evangelist Anita Bryant, her face covered with banana cream pie, stares in disbelief during a news conference where a man posing as a reporter jumped up and hit her in the face with a pie he brought to the conference. At left is Miss Bryant's husband, Robert Green. She is in Des Moines for a religious concert. Green said no charges would be filed, and the pie-thrower was allowed to leave the news conference.

According to history, Bryant quipped that the pie was a "fruit pie" and then began praying for God to forgive Higgins' "deviant lifestyle."

For her part in the advocacy, Bryant faced much entertainment industry backlash, which included the revocation of an offer for her own weekly variety show and a lost bid to become vice president of the Southern Baptist Convention. Through the 1970s and 80s, Bryant became a entertainment industry joke, with her name becoming a frequent punchline on "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson." Lost revenues and opportunities led Bryant to file bankruptcy.

A divorce from first husband Bob Green resulted in Bryant being shunned by many conservative and religious people. According to Green in a 2007 Miami Herald article, some of Bryant's fans felt her divorce was hypocritical from someone who preached "family togetherness."

In her later life, Bryant focused on her faith organization Anita Bryant Ministries International, which she founded in the 1960s. She married second husband Charlie Dry, a former NASA test crewman, in 1990.

NEW YORK - OCTOBER 27: (Left to Right) Joe DiMaggio, Victor Borge, Anita Bryant, Muhammad Ali, Rosa Parks, and Donald Trump pose for a photograph after receiving the Ellis Island Medal of Honor October 27, 1986 in New York City. (Photo by Yvonne Hemsey/Getty Images)

She stayed out of the spotlight for the majority of her later life and opined the Washington Post in 1996 that she often reflected on her anti-gay rights crusade — of which she said she didn't regret it.

"Would I do it again? I've had to ask myself that question many times," Bryant told WaPo. "What I did, I feel today still, was right. If you go against what God says is wrong, there are ramifications for that. That's the sad part. It's as true for heterosexuals as it is for homosexuals."

Back in 2021, Anita Bryant's granddaughter Sarah Green announced she is gay and was to be married to her girlfriend. According to Sarah Green, she came out to her grandmother who told her "homosexuality is a delusion invented by the devil" and that she should keep praying until she realizes she's straight. At the time, Sarah expressed confusion about whether or not to even invite Bryant to her wedding.

According to her obituary, Bryant was preceded in death by Dry, in addition to her parents and multiple siblings. She is survived by four children, two stepdaughters and seven grandchildren and their spouses.

Topics

Anita Bryant, Whose Anti-Gay Politics Undid a Singing Career, Is Dead at 84

The former beauty queen and spokeswoman for Florida orange juice was an all-American entertainer before she began crusading against L.G.B.T.Q. rights.
The New York Times - 7h
Anita Desai Has Put Down Roots, but Her Work Ranges Widely

Her new novella, “Rosarita,” takes place in Mexico, a country she finds so like her native India that, she says, “I feel utterly at home there.”
The New York Times - 3d
Wayne Osmond, singer and guitarist for The Osmonds, dies at 73

NEW YORK — Wayne Osmond, a singer, guitarist and founding member of the million-selling family act The Osmonds, who were known for such 1970s teen hits as “One Bad Apple,” “Yo-Yo” and “Down By the ...
NBC News - 6d
Wayne Osmond, Singer and Guitarist With the Osmonds, Dies at 73

Mr. Osmond was a founding member of the family pop group, which had a slew of hits in the 1970s, including “One Bad Apple” and “Yo-Yo.”
The New York Times - Jan. 3
Wayne Osmond, singer and guitarist for The Osmonds, is dead at 73

Wayne Osmond, a singer, guitarist and founding member of the million-selling family act The Osmonds, has died
ABC News - Jan. 2
Activist investors give Japan a wake-up call

A critical mass of shareholder activists are forcing companies to adjust
Financial Times - Jan. 2
Equal Rights Amendment advocates should take ‘dead’ for an answer

ERA advocates are attempting to revive the 1972 ERA by having President Biden order the archivist to certify it as part of the Constitution, but the Supreme Court and lower courts have ruled that ...
The Hill - Jan. 1
'Dead right in front of us': Witness shares what he saw on New Orleans' Bourbon Street

Jimmy Cothran recounts what he saw on New Orleans' Bourbon Street after a driver plowed into a crowd, leaving multiple dead and more wounded.
NBC News - Jan. 1