Anita Bryant, a multi-Grammy-nominated singer and former Miss Oklahoma who later became a prominent campaigner against gay rights in America, died at the age of 84.
Bryant’s family announced on Thursday that she died at her Edmond, Oklahoma, home on December 16, 2024. “May Anita’s memory and her faith in eternal life through Christ comfort all who embraced her,” she’d say.
Bryant, who was born on March 25, 1940, in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, rose to prominence as a musician with hits such as Till There Was You, In My Little Corner of the World, and Paper Roses. At the age of 18, Bryant was crowned Miss Oklahoma.
Bryant performed at the Republican and Democratic national conventions, as well as at the White House during Lyndon B Johnson’s presidency.
She also served as the spokesperson for Florida Citrus, coining the phrase, “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
Bryant became politically involved in the 1970s when he led the anti-LGBTQ+ “Save Our Children” campaign, which sought to repeal a Dade County, Florida, ordinance that prohibited sexual orientation discrimination.
Bryant told Playboy in 1978, “I got involved only because they were asking for special privileges that violated the state law of Florida, not to mention God’s law.”
Gay rights activists boycotted Florida orange juice due to Bryant’s anti-LGBTQ beliefs, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
Bryant stated that she lost approximately half a million dollars in concert bookings.
Bryant is survived by her four children, two stepdaughters, seven grandchildren, and their spouses, according to a statement.
