Anita Bryant, the singer and former Miss Oklahoma beauty queen who was outspoken about her anti-gay political views, has died at the age of 84.
News of her passing was announced in an obituary published January 9 in The Oklahoman. The newspaper shared that Bryant passed away on December 16, 2024, nearly a month before the announcement was made. It shared that she died at her home.
Bryant rose to fame in 1959 when she released her self-titled debut album, which included the hit song “Till There Was You.” However, her second album made her a superstar and included the songs “Paper Roses” and “Wonderland by Night”.
“Paper Roses” became her first top 5 hit on the chart and was followed by another successful single titled “My Little Corner of the World”, which also became a top 10 hit, reaching No. 10. Her other singles did not. also did well on the charts and her only other top 20 hit was “Wonderland by Night”, which reached number 18 in 1961.
Later in life, Bryant focused more on advocacy and was an advocate for gay rights. According to NBC, her work against the LGBT community helped overturn a law in Miami that banned sexual orientation discrimination in certain areas such as housing and employment.
She went on to found an organization called Save Our Children, which claimed that members of the LGBT community were a threat to the country’s children.
Bryant once spoke about his decision to establish the organization.
“The war continues to save our children because the seeds of sexual disease that germinated in Dade County were planted by misguided liberals in the United States Congress,” she said. United States today.
Although outspoken against the gay community, it ultimately led to the downfall of her music career and she struggled to regain her former popularity. It also took a financial toll and she was dropped from various advertisements. She was the spokeswoman for Florida Orange from 1969 to 1980, famous for the slogan “Breakfast without orange juice is like a day without sunshine.” Bryant filed for bankruptcy twice in his life.
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