Anita Bryant

Anita Bryant

Person from United States

Genres: pop

About Anita Bryant

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 1958 Miss Oklahoma beauty pageant winner, and a brand ambassador for the Florida 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 the Save Our Children campaign to repeal a local ordinance in Miami-Dade County, Florida, that outlawed discrimination on the basis of sexual 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 herself blacklisted. Her contract with the Florida 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.

Taken from Wikipedia.org