Singer and gay rights activist Anita Bryant has died at the age of 84

 

Singer and gay rights activist Anita Bryant has died at the age of 84

The 84-year-old singer Anita Bryant, a former Miss Oklahoma and multiple Grammy Award nominee, died. Bryant went on to become a well-known opponent of LGBT rights in the US. Bryant's family said in a statement Thursday that she passed away in her Edmond, Oklahoma, home on December 16, 2024. The family remarked, "May Anita's memory and her faith in eternal life through Christ comfort all those who loved her.

Bryant, who was born in Barnsdall, Oklahoma, on March 25, 1940, became well-known very quickly because to her music career, which had hits like *Paper Roses*, *In My Little Corner of the World*, and *Till There Was You*. Bryant won the title of Miss Oklahoma at the age of 18. She sang at the Republican and Democratic national conventions in addition to the White House during the administration of Lyndon B. Johnson. She famously came up with the saying, "A day without orange juice is like a day without sunshine," while working as a spokesperson for Florida Citrus.
Bryant entered politics in the 1970s as the leader of the LGBTQ+ opposition movement "Save Our Children," which sought to repeal an ordinance in Dade County, Florida that forbade discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. In 1978, Bryant told *Playboy*, "I only got involved because they were asking for special privileges that violated Florida state law, let alone God's law."
The Hollywood Reporter* claims that Bryant lost over half a million dollars in concert bookings as a result of gay rights activists boycotting Florida Orange Juice in response to her anti-LGBTQ views. According to a statement from Bryant's family, she is survived by her hubby, four children, two stepdaughters, and seven grandchi
ldren.