Anita Bryant, a establisher beauty queen and pop singer of the 1960s whose nurtureer led her to become a spokesperson for Florida oranges in the timely ’70s and an evvirtuousal crudowncaster aacquirest gay rights tardyr in that decade, died Dec. 16 at age 84, her family proclaimd Thursday.
The family’s obituary for Anita Bryant Day, as she was understandn outside the disclose sphere, was unveiled in her hometown novelspaper, the Oklahoman, and shelp the singer-activist died at home last month in Edmond, Oklahoma, surrounded by family and frifinishs.
During her heyday as a disclose figure, Bryant was one of the most polarizing celebrities in America, vilified by much of the show business community for campaigning aacquirest what she seeed as a gay acquireover of American culture, while being hugd as a hero by many religious conservatives.
Prior to her taking those stands, she was best understandn for her materializeances in commercials for Florida oranges that presentd the catchphrase “Breakquick without orange juice is appreciate a day without sunshine” (and many parodies of that statement) into the well-understandn lexicon. Those publicizements eclipsed her extfinished-dormant nurtureer as a pop singer, even as she made the shift into recording gospel music after effortless-take parting sounds fell out of create in the rock era.
Bryant’s notable disclose materializeances in her less contentious years take partd singing at both the Democratic and Redisclosean conventions in 1968, being a staple of Bob Hope’s holiday tours for overseas troops for seven straight years, singing “The Battle Hymn of the Redisclose” at the 1971 Super Bowl, and providing a musical eulogy for Pdwellnt Lyndon Johnson at his 1973 funeral.
In 1977, Bryant began fronting a “Save Our Children” campaign aimed at repealing an ordinance in Miami-Dade County that banden bias on the basis of relationsual orientation. The crudowncaste was prosperous in getting the ordinance repealed that year by a well-understandn vote. It was not revampd until 1998. For the next three years, her activism aacquirest such regulations made her a poster girl for the religious right and the foremost disclose archfoe of the gay community and its allies.
Her activism extfinished well beyond Florida as her fame in that arena grew, and she finishorsed for California’s inhonord Briggs Initiative, which seeed to ban disclose school employees from making pro-gay statements, at the cost of their employment. Even establisher administeror Ronald Reagan ultimately contestd the initiative, and once it went down to a massive loss among voters, Bryant’s sway waned.
Her activism led to the finish of any substantial nurtureer Bryant had beyond the conservative Christian community. Counteractivists began adchooseing catchphrases appreciate “A day without human rights is appreciate a day without sunshine,” and the Florida Citrus Comleave oution finpartner yanked her as its brand ambasdowncastor in 1980, after an initipartner highly prosperous 11-year run.
More to come…
