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Anita Bryant at a news conference in Boston, Massachusetts, on 1 September 1978. Photograph: AP
Anita Bryant, singer and anti-gay rights crusader, dies aged 84
Bryant was Miss Oklahoma and Florida Citrus spokesperson before leading anti-LGBTQ+ ‘Save Our Children’ campaign
Maya Yang
Thu 9 Jan 2025 18.42 EST
Anita Bryant, a multi-Grammy nominated singer and former Miss Oklahoma who later became a high-profile campaigner against gay rights in America, has died at the age of 84.
In an announcement on Thursday, Bryant’s family announced that Bryant died at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, on 16 December 2024. “May Anita’s memory and her faith in eternal life through Christ comfort all who embraced her,” her family said.
Born on 25 March 1940 in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, Bryant quickly rose to fame through her musical career with hit songs including Till There Was You, In My Little Corner of the World and Paper Roses. At the age of 18, Bryant was crowned Miss Oklahoma.
In addition to singing at the White House during Lyndon B Johnson’s presidency, Bryant sang at Republican and Democratic national conventions. She was also the spokesperson of Florida Citrus, at one point coining the phrase, “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.”
In the 1970s, Bryant became politically involved by leading the anti-LGBTQ+ “Save Our Children” campaign, which sought to repeal an ordinance in Dade county, Florida, that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation.
Speaking to Playboy in 1978, Bryant said: “I got involved only because they were asking for special privileges that violated the state law of Florida, not to mention God’s law.”
In response to Bryant’s anti-LGBTQ beliefs, gay right activists boycotted Florida orange juice, the Hollywood Reporter reported. It added that Bryant said she lost approximately half-a-million dollars in concert bookings.
Bryant is survived by her four children, two stepdaughters, seven grandchildren and their spouses, her family said in a statement.
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