I recently read a story that I found interesting. Although, I don’t remember it happening. Here was the cutline:
“On October 14, 1977, while speaking at an event in Iowa to promote her campaign to roll back anti-discrimination laws protecting LGBTQ people, Anita Bryant is hit in the face with a pie.”
Now, here is the thing. I grew up seeing Anita Bryant in all the orange juice commercials. Bryant was an American household name before she made headlines for her anti-gay political activism.
But she had a life before orange juice. She was the winner of Miss Tulsa in 1957, a runner-up for Miss America in 1960, and, of course, the spokesperson for Florida Orange Juice. She was also a pop singer and performed at the halftime show of Super Bowl V in 1971.
But. She gained national notoriety as a political campaigner in 1977 when she took a stand against a local ordinance in Dade County, Florida. That is where she lived with her husband and children. The ordinance forbade discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation in housing and employment. And guess what happened? Bryant and her people were able to repeal those protections against discrimination.
Bryant appealed to Christian values and motherhood in her anti-gay campaign, which she called “Save our Children.”
That’s not all.
She argued that the gay rights movement threatened to undermine Christian family values. She also created rhetoric that stoked fears, saying that gay adults would abuse or “recruit” children. She considered homosexuality to be “deviant” and “an abomination of God,” and therefore dangerous and unworthy of anti-discrimination protections.
Anita, Anita, Anita. Trust me. You have a lot more to worry about considering your children than a couple of gay women trying to earn a living and buy a home.
She wasn’t done there.
After Bryant successfully repealed the ordinance in Dade County, she went on a tour to promote similar campaigns across the country.
At a stop in Des Moines, Iowa, gay activist Tom Higgins threw a pie at Bryant and hit her in the face. Yeah. I don’t know what kind of pie it was, but I’m sort of hoping it was one of those real heavy numbers.
Bryant quipped, “at least it’s a fruit pie,” before praying for Higgins’s soul and breaking into tears. I don’t condone violence in any way, but I’m still. hoping that pie was a real heavy one.
Anyway.
Higgins was not alone in protesting Bryant’s speaking tour. The backlash against her crusade inspired large protests in cities like Houston and galvanized the gay rights movement. Gay bars began boycotting orange juice. Yes indeed. Instead of screwdrivers, they served “Anita Bryants,” urging patrons to “squeeze a fruit for Anita.” At the same time, she was voted Good Housekeeping magazine’s most admired woman for three years running.
By 1980, Bryant lost her job as the spokeswoman for Florida orange juice, her singing career stalled, and she divorced her husband. The legacy of her brief political career lives on in continued attempts to block or roll back civil rights for LBGTQ Americans. In Bryant’s home state of Florida, in particular, recent so-called “Don’t Say Gay” legislation and pushes for “parental rights” recall Bryant’s rhetoric in the 1970s.
And. A few notes.
Sexual Orientation: Being gay refers to a person who is attracted to individuals of the same sex. It is one of many sexual orientations, which also include heterosexuality, bisexuality, asexuality, and others.
Not a Choice: Sexual orientation, including being gay, is generally considered not to be a choice. Research suggests it is a complex interplay of genetic, hormonal, developmental, social, and environmental factors. People do not choose their sexual orientation.
Sexual orientation is not a mental illness. For anyone.
Bryant died from cancer at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, on December 16, 2024, at the age of 84. Her death was announced by her family on January 9, 2025. I wonder if anyone in her family is gay.
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“I raise up my voice—not so I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard…we cannot succeed when half of us are held back.” – Malala Yousafzai
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“Equality means more than passing laws. The struggle is really won in the hearts and minds of the community, where it really counts.” – Barbara Gittings
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“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” – Martin Luther King Jr.
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I like my orange juice without the Bryant, please.
