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Anita Bryant | |
|---|---|
 Bryant in the January 1971 issue ofBillboard | |
| Born | Anita Jane Bryant (1940-03-25)March 25, 1940 Barnsdall, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Died | December 16, 2024(2024-12-16) (aged 84) Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S. |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1956–2016[a] |
| Spouses | |
| Children | 4 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
Anita Jane Bryant (March 25, 1940 – December 16, 2024) was an American singer and anti-gay-rights activist. She had three top 20 hits in the United States in the early 1960s. She was the 1958Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and a brand ambassador for theFlorida Citrus Commission from 1969 to 1980.
From 1977 to 1980, Bryant was an outspoken opponent of gay rights in the United States. In 1977, she ran theSave Our Children campaign to repeal a local ordinance inMiami-Dade County, Florida, that outlaweddiscrimination on the basis ofsexual orientation. Throughout the country, supporters of gay rights condemned Bryant for her campaign. Assisted by prominent figures in music, film, and television, they retaliated by boycotting the orange juice that she promoted. The campaign ended on June 7, 1977 with a 69% majority vote to repeal the ordinance (which Dade County restored in 1998). Though this was a victory for Bryant, her public image was irreparably damaged and she found herselfblacklisted. Her contract with theFlorida Citrus Commission was terminated three years later. This, as well as her later divorce from Bob Green, left her financially insolvent and she filed for bankruptcy twice.
Bryant was born inBarnsdall, Oklahoma, on March 25, 1940, the daughter of Lenora Annice Berry and Warren G. Bryant. After her parents divorced, her father went into theU.S. Army and her mother went to work as a clerk forTinker Air Force Base.[2] She began singing at the age of 2 at the FirstBaptist church in Barnsdall, with "Jesus Loves Me".[3] She was singing onstage at the age of six,[citation needed] at local fairgrounds inOklahoma. She sang occasionally on radio and television, and was invited to audition whenArthur Godfrey's talent show came to town, eventually winning the contest.[2] At age 12, she had her television showThe Anita Bryant Show, which aired on WKY (nowKFOR-TV).[4]
Bryant becameMiss Oklahoma in 1958, right after graduating from Tulsa'sWill Rogers High School, and was second runner-up in the 1959Miss Americapageant (held September 6, 1958) at age 18.[5]
In 1960, Bryant married Bob Green (1931–2012), a Miami disc jockey, with whom she eventually raised four children.[6][7] They divorced in 1980.[8]
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Bryant appeared early in her career on theNBC interview programHere's Hollywood[citation needed] and on the same network'sThe Ford Show, starringTennessee Ernie Ford.[2]
Bryant released several albums on theCarlton andColumbia labels.[citation needed] Her first album,Anita Bryant, which was released in 1959, contained "Till There Was You" and songs from other Broadway shows.[citation needed] Her second album,Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight (1961), contains "Paper Roses" and "Wonderland by Night", as well as several songs that first appeared in her singles.[citation needed] Her third album,In My Little Corner of the World, also in 1961, contains the title song and other songs that have to do with places around the world, including "Canadian Sunset" and "I Love Paris".[citation needed] Bryant's compilation album,Greatest Hits (1963), contains both her original Carlton hits (because Columbia purchased all the masters from Carlton) plus sides from her Columbia recordings, including "Paper Roses" and "Step by Step, Little by Little".[citation needed] In 1964, she releasedThe World of Lonely People, containing, in addition to the title song, "Welcome, Welcome Home" and a new rendition of "Little Things Mean a Lot", arranged by Frank Hunter. Bryant also released several albums of religious music.[citation needed]
Bryant had a moderate pop hit with the song "Till There Was You" (1959, US No. 30), from the Broadway productionThe Music Man. She also had three hits that reached the Top 20 in the U.S.: "Paper Roses" (1960, US No. 5, and covered byMarie Osmond 13 years later), "In My Little Corner of the World" (1960, US No. 10), and "Wonderland by Night" (1961, US No. 18), originally a hit forBert Kaempfert. "Paper Roses", "In My Little Corner of the World", and "Till There Was You", each sold over one million copies, and were awarded agold disc by theRIAA.[9]
From 1961 until 1968, Bryant frequently joinedBob Hope on holiday tours for theUnited Service Organizations.[2] She again traveled with Hope for televised shows during theVietnam War.[10][11] Bryant was given the Silver Medallion Award from theNational Guard for "outstanding service by an entertainer", and theVeterans of Foreign Wars Leadership Gold Medallion.[12]
Between 1964 and 1969, Bryant performed at multipleWhite House functions, including both theDemocratic Convention inChicago and theMiamiRepublican Convention in 1968.[13] She was nominated for twoGrammy Awards: best sacred performance and best spiritual performance.[14]
In 1967, withI Believe she moved towardsgospel which would also characterize the music of her other albums.[15]
In 1969, Bryant became a spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission, and nationally televised commercials featured her singing "Come to the Florida Sunshine Tree" and stating the commercials' tagline: "Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine."[2] (Later, the slogan became, "It isn't just for breakfast anymore!") In addition during that time, she appeared in advertisements forCoca-Cola,Kraft Foods,Holiday Inn, andTupperware. In the 1970s, Bryant was teamed up with the Disney Character "Orange Bird", with whom she appeared in several orange juice commercials. She also sang the Orange Bird Song and narrated the Orange Bird record album, with music written by theSherman Brothers. She also published her cookbook, Bless This Food: The Anita Bryant Family Cookbook, described as "Much more than a cookbook, this is the story of a family devoted to Christ."[13]
Bryant sang "The Battle Hymn of the Republic" during the half-time show ofSuper Bowl V in 1971, and at the graveside services for President of the United StatesLyndon B. Johnson in 1973.[2] She also co-hosted the televised segment of theOrange Bowl Parade for nine years.[16]
Bryant hosted a two-hour television special,The Anita Bryant Spectacular, in March 1980.[17] She recounted her autobiography, appeared in medleys of prerecorded songs, and interviewedPat Boone. TheWest PointGlee Club and GeneralWilliam Westmoreland participated.[18]
In 1977,Dade County, Florida, passed anordinance sponsored by Bryant's former friendRuth Shack that prohibited discrimination on the basis ofsexual orientation.[19] Bryant led a highly publicized campaign to repeal the ordinance, as the leader of a coalition namedSave Our Children.[2] The singer was especially concerned about the fact that the ordinance risked authorizing homosexual people to work in Christian schools and become role-models, because her own children were enrolled there.[20] The campaign was based on conservative Christian beliefs regarding the sinfulness of homosexuality and the proposed threat ofhomosexual recruitment of children andchild molestation.[21][page needed] Bryant stated:
What these people really want, hidden behind obscure legal phrases, is the legal right to propose to our children that theirs is an acceptable alternate way of life. [...] I will lead such a crusade to stop it as this country has not seen before.[21][page needed]
She also perpetuated the idea of the gay community'recruiting' children through child abuse to become homosexual themselves.[2] When Shack and other leaders refused to vote in opposition to the ordinance as per her request, she pleaded with families directly "The recruitment of our children is absolutely necessary for the survival and growth of homosexuality... for since homosexuals cannot reproduce, they must recruit, must freshen their ranks."[13]
The campaign marked the beginning of an organizedopposition to gay rights that spread across the nation.[22][page needed]Jerry Falwell went to Miami to help Bryant. She made the following statements during the campaign: "As a mother, I know that homosexuals cannot biologically reproduce children; therefore, they must recruit our children" and "If gays are granted rights, next we'll have to give rights to prostitutes and to people who sleep withSt. Bernards and tonail biters."[21][page needed] She also said, "All America and all the world will hear what the people have said, and with God's continued help we will prevail in our fight to repeal similar laws throughout the nation."[19][23][24][25]
The name of the campaign had to be changed to "Protect America's Children" because of legal action by theSave the Children foundation.[26][13]
On June 7, 1977, Bryant's campaign led to a repeal of the anti-discrimination ordinance by a margin of 69 to 31 percent. However, the success of Bryant's campaign galvanized her opponents, and the gay community retaliated against her by forming the Coalition for Human Rights and the Miami Victory Campaign, who organized a boycott of orange juice.[21][page needed][13]Gay bars all over North America stopped servingscrewdrivers[27] and replaced them with the "Anita Bryant Cocktail", which was made withvodka and apple juice.[28][page needed] Additionally, merchandise such as buttons, bumper stickers, and T-shirts with slogans like "A day without human rights is like a day without sunshine" were sold to push the anti-discrimination movement further.[13] Sales and proceeds went to gay rights activists to help fund their fight against Bryant and her campaign.[28][page needed]
In 1977, Florida legislators approved a measure prohibitinggay adoption.[21][page needed] The ban was overturned more than 30 years later when, on November 25, 2008, Miami-Dade Circuit Court Judge Cindy S. Lederman declared it unconstitutional.[29]
| External videos | |
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 Anita Bryant's Pie to the Face, fromNBCUniversal Archives |
On October 14, 1977, during a televised appearance inDes Moines, Iowa, she repeatedly said she "loves homosexuals, but hates their sin".[30] During this appearance, Bryant became one of the first people to be publicly "pied" as part of a political protest. She had a pie thrown at her byThom L. Higgins (1950–1994).[31][32] Bryant quipped "At least it's a fruit pie",[33] making a pun on the derogatory slur of "fruit" for a gay man and a reference to her work as a sponsor for fruit companies.[2] While covered in pie after the assault, she began to pray to God to forgive the activist "for his deviant lifestyle" before bursting into tears as the cameras continued rolling.[2] Bryant's husband said that he would not retaliate, but followed the protesters outside and threw a pie at them.[28][page needed] By this time, gay activists ensured that the boycott on Florida orange juice had become more prominent and it was supported by many celebrities, includingJane Fonda,[28][page needed]Paul Williams,[34] andVincent Price (he joked in a television interview thatOscar Wilde'sA Woman of No Importance referred to her).[35]Johnny Carson also made Bryant a regular target of ridicule in his nightly monologues.[36][page needed] In 1978, Bryant and Bob Green told the story of their campaign in the bookAt Any Cost.[21][page needed] The gay community continued to regard Bryant's name as synonymous withbigotry andhomophobia.[28][page needed][37][page needed] However, at the same time, her name became a call to action for gay rights activists, and motivated many to picket her events, host anti-Bryant protests across the country, and increase attendance in and frequency of pride marches.[13]
Bryant led several more campaigns around the country to repeal local anti-discrimination ordinances, including campaigns inSt. Paul, Minnesota;Wichita, Kansas; andEugene, Oregon. In 1978, her success led to theBriggs Initiative in California, which would have made pro-gay statements regarding homosexual people or homosexuality by anypublic school employee cause for dismissal.[21][page needed] Grassroots liberal organizations, chiefly in Los Angeles and theSan Francisco Bay Area, organized to defeat the initiative. Days before the election, theCalifornia Democratic Party opposed the proposed legislation. PresidentJimmy Carter, GovernorJerry Brown, former presidentGerald Ford, and former governor (and future President)Ronald Reagan—then planning a run for the presidency—all voiced opposition to the initiative, and it ultimately suffered a massive defeat at the polls.[28][page needed]
In 1998, the Miami-Dade County Commission reinstated the ordinance protecting individuals from discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation, by a narrow 7–6 vote. In 2002, a ballot initiative to repeal the 1998 law, called Amendment 14, was voted down by 56 percent of the voters.[28][page needed] The Florida statute forbidding gay adoption was upheld in 2004 by a federalappellate court against a constitutional challenge but was overturned by a Miami-Dade circuit court in November 2008.[29]
The fallout from Bryant's political activism caused irreparable damage to her business and entertainment career, with her obituary inThe Oklahoman framing her 1978Playboy interview as a turning point in her career.[16] Even earlier in February 1977, theSinger Corporation rescinded an offer to sponsor an upcoming weekly variety show because of the "extensive national publicity arising from [Bryant's] controversial political activities."[38]
In 1978, while a member of a Baptist church, she ran for vice president of theSouthern Baptist Convention, but lost. Several leaders disagreed with how she rejected civil rights for gay people.[39]
Bryant's marriage to Bob Green also failed at that time; she divorced him in 1980, citing emotional abuse and latent suicidal thoughts.[40][page needed][41] Green refused to accept this, claiming hisfundamentalist religious beliefs did not recognize civil divorce and that "in God's eyes", she was still his wife.[42]
ManyChristian fundamentalist audiences and venues shunned Bryant after her divorce. Because she was no longer invited to appear at their events, she lost a major source of income. The Florida Citrus Commission also allowed her contract to lapse after the divorce, stating that Bryant was now "worn out" as a spokesperson.[43][44]
Bryant rapidly became the butt of jokes, as her image shifted. The decline of her reputation was aided byTonight Show hostJohnny Carson, and other comedians and talk-show hosts as they regularly mocked her to the general public. This led to her endorsements being cancelled and sponsors dropping her, as she was now viewed as a liability.[13]
Bryant and three of her four children moved from Miami toSelma, Alabama and later toAtlanta, Georgia.[40][page needed] In a 1980Ladies' Home Journal article she said, "The church needs to wake up and find some way to cope with divorce and women's problems." She also expressed some sympathy for feminist aspirations, given her own experiences of emotional abuse within her previous marriage. Bryant also commented on her somewhat relaxed anti-gay views, saying "I'm more inclined to say live and let live, just don't flaunt it or try to legalize it."[45] In a 2012 interview, her son Robert Green, Jr. said "she would be putting a lot more energy into fighting gay rights if she still felt as strongly."[46]
Bryant appeared inMichael Moore's 1989 documentary filmRoger & Me, in which she is interviewed and travels toFlint, Michigan, as part of the effort to help revitalize its devastated local economy.[47]
Bryant married her second husband, Charlie Hobson Dry, in 1990.[40][page needed][48] The couple tried to reestablish her music career in a series of small venues, includingPigeon Forge, Tennessee, where they opened Anita Bryant's Music Mansion. The establishment combined Bryant's performances of her successful songs from early in her career with a "lengthy segment in which she preached her Christian beliefs". The venture was not successful and the Music Mansion, which had missed meeting payrolls at times, filed for bankruptcy in 2001 with Bryant and Dry leaving several employees and creditors unpaid.[6] They remained married until his death in April 2024, eight months before Bryant's death.[49]
Bryant also spent part of the 1990s inBranson, Missouri, where the state and federal governments both filed liens claiming more than $116,000 in unpaid taxes. Bryant and Dry had also filed forChapter 11 bankruptcy inArkansas in 1997 after piling up bills from a failed Anita Bryant show inEureka Springs; among the debts were more than$172,000 (equivalent to about $337,000 in 2024) in unpaid state and federal taxes.[6]
In 1996, Bryant stated that she was happy to no longer be working in show business.[50]
In 2005, Bryant returned to Barnsdall to attend the town's 100th anniversary celebration and to have a street renamed in her honor. In 2006, she founded Anita Bryant Ministries International inOklahoma City.[4] In 2011, she defended heranti-gay activism saying "I did the right thing" and "I never regretted what I did."[16]
In 2021, Bryant's granddaughtercame out publicly on an episode ofSlate'sOne Year podcast series by announcing her pending marriage to a woman, although she was having difficulty deciding whether she should invite her grandmother to the ceremony.[51][52]
Bryant died from cancer at her home inEdmond, Oklahoma, on December 16, 2024, at the age of 84. Her death was announced by her family on January 9, 2025.[2][53]
Bryant is a frequently portrayed character at drag shows across the United States.[54][page needed][55]
Bryant's name has frequently been invoked as a prototypical example of opposition toLGBT rights. WhenElton John was criticized for touring Russia in 1979, he responded: "I wouldn't say I won't tour in America because I can't stand Anita Bryant".[56] In his song "Mañana",Jimmy Buffett sings "I hope Anita Bryant never ever does one of my songs".[57] In 1978,David Allan Coe recorded the song "Fuck Aneta Briant" [sic] on his albumNothing Sacred.[58][59] Californiapunk rock bandDead Kennedys referenced Bryant in their song "Moral Majority" from their 1981 EPIn God We Trust, Inc.[60]
In 1977, the Dutchlevenslied singerZangeres Zonder Naam wrote the protest song "Luister Anita" ("Listen Up, Anita") on the occasion of the protest night "Miami Nightmare", organized in the AmsterdamConcertgebouw. The nightly concert was intended to raise funds for an advertisement inTime, in which the Dutch nation was to call on the American people to protect the rights of minorities. In the song, Zangeres Zonder Naam compared Anita Bryant to Hitler and called on gays to fight for their rights. The song became an integral part of her repertoire and cemented her status as a cult figure among Dutch gays.[61]
Steve Gerber, in hisHoward the Duck forMarvel Comics, made an organization called the Sinister S.O.O.F.I. (Save Our Offspring from Indecency) who were led by Anita Bryant. Although it was not explicitly stated, evenThe New York Times called the implication "transparent".[62]
Armistead Maupin, in his 1980 novelMore Tales of the City, used Anita Bryant's "Save Our Children" campaign to prompt a principal character tocome out ofthe closet.[63]
Bryant was regularly lampooned onSaturday Night Live, sometimes with her politics as the target,[64][65] sometimes her reputation as a popular, traditional entertainer known for her commercials as the target,[66] and sometimes targeting a combination of the two.[67] Her name was also a frequent punchline onThe Gong Show, such as the time host/producerChuck Barris joked that Bryant was releasing a new Christmas album calledGay Tidings. Some references were less overtly political, but equally critical. In the filmAirplane! (1980),Leslie Nielsen's character, upon seeing a large number of passengers become violently ill, vomit, and have uncontrollable flatulence, remarked: "I haven't seen anything like this since the Anita Bryant concert."[68][2] Other television shows that targeted her wereSoap,[69]Designing Women,[70] andThe Golden Girls.[71][72] She was also the target of mockery in theRiffTrax shortDrugs Are Like That.[73]
Bryant appears inarchive footage as a principal antagonist in the 2008 American biographical filmMilk, about the life of gay rights activist and politicianHarvey Milk.[16] She was also portrayed as the principal antagonist in the 2011 play,Anita Bryant Died for Your Sins.[74]
In May 2013, producers announced plans for a biographicalHBO film based on Bryant's life to starUma Thurman, with a script from gay screenwriterChad Hodge.[75][76][77] Long languishing in development, as of 2019,Ashley Judd andNeil Patrick Harris have been attached to the project.[78]
Archive footage of Bryant appears inThe Gospel of Eureka, a 2018 documentary about the lives of LGBT individuals and evangelical Christians inEureka Springs, Arkansas.[79]
Bryant was lampooned in the 2016 playAnita Bryant's Playboy Interview, based on her 1978 magazine piece.[80]
She is also the subject ofThe Loneliest Girl in the World, a musical that premiered at Diversionary Theatre inSan Diego in mid-2018.[81][82]
Mark D. Jordan has written: "Many of her public statements, including her books, wereghostwritten by others, and there is internal reason to conclude that the most political books were pasted together by several hands from various sources."[83]
With Bob Green
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| Year | Album | Billboard 200 [85] | Record label |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1959 | Anita Bryant | – | Carlton Records |
| 1960 | Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight! | – | |
| 1961 | In My Little Corner of the World | 99 | |
| Kisses Sweeter Than Wine | – | Columbia Records | |
| 1962 | Abiding Love | – | |
| In a Velvet Mood | 145 | ||
| The ABC Stories of Jesus | – | ||
| 1963 | The Country's Best | – | |
| Anita Bryant's Greatest Hits | – | ||
| 1964 | The World of Lonely People | – | |
| The Best of Johnny Desmond & Anita Bryant at Jubilee 1964 | – | ||
| 1965 | I Believe | – | |
| 1966 | Mine Eyes Have Seen the Glory | 146 | |
| 1967 | Do You Hear What I Hear?: Christmas with Anita Bryant | 25 | |
| 1968 | Anita Bryant | – | Harmony Records |
| How Great Thou Art | – | Columbia Records | |
| In Remembrance of You | – | ||
| 1969 | Little Things Mean a Lot | – | Harmony Records |
| 1970 | World Without Love | – | |
| Abide with Me | – | Word Records | |
| 1972 | Naturally | – | Myrrh Records |
| The Miracle of Christmas | – | Word Records | |
| 1973 | Sweet Hour of Prayer | – | Harmony Records |
| Battle Hymn of the Republic | – | Word Records | |
| 1975 | Old Fashioned Prayin' | – | |
| Anita Bryant's All-Time Favorite Hymns | – | ||
| 1985 | Anita with Love | – | BL Records |
| Year | Title | Peak chart positions | Record Label | B-side | Album | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [86] | R&B | AC | UK | |||||
| 1959 | "Till There Was You" | 30 | — | — | — | Carlton Records | "Little George (Got The Hiccoughs)" | A-side:Anita Bryant; B-side: non-album track |
| "Six Boys and Seven Girls" | 62 | — | — | — | "The Blessings of Love" | A-side:Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight; B-side:Anita Bryant | ||
| "Do-Re-Mi" | 94 | — | — | — | "Promise Me A Rose" (A-side) | Anita Bryant | ||
| 1960 | "Paper Roses" | 5 | 16 | — | 24 | "Mixed Emotions" | Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight | |
| "My Little Corner of the World" | 10 | — | — | 48 | "Anyone Would Love You" | A-side:In My Little Corner Of The World; B-side:Anita Bryant | ||
| "One of the Lucky Ones" | 62 | — | — | — | "Love Look Away" | A-side:Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight; B-side:Anita Bryant | ||
| "Promise Me a Rose (A Slight Detail)" | 78 | — | — | — | "Do-Re-Mi" | Anita Bryant | ||
| 1961 | "Wonderland by Night" | 18 | — | — | — | "Pictures" | Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight | |
| "A Texan and a Girl from Mexico" | 85 | — | — | — | "He's Not Good Enough for You" | Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight | ||
| "I Can't Do It by Myself" | 87 | — | — | — | "An Angel Cried" | Hear Anita Bryant in Your Home Tonight | ||
| "Lonesome For You, Mama" | 108 | — | — | — | "A Place Called Happiness" | Non-album tracks | ||
| 1962 | "Step By Step, Little By Little" | 106 | — | — | — | Columbia Records | "Cold Cold Winter" | Greatest Hits |
| 1964 | "The World of Lonely People" | 59 | — | 17 | — | "It's Better to Cry Today Than Cry Tomorrow" | The World of Lonely People | |
| "Welcome, Welcome Home" | 130 | — | — | — | "Laughing on the Outside" | |||
| International | |
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| National | |
| Academics | |
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| People | |
| Other | |
