A singer, a pitchwoman and an anti-gay activist: Anita Bryant’s life in South Florida

Anita Bryant — a multi-Grammy nominated singer, beauty queen and Florida Orange Juice pitchwoman who died on Dec. 16 — was a force in South Florida for decades.

Bryant passed away at her home in Edmond, Oklahoma, according to a family obituary published in The Oklahoman, a local newspaper.

But before she moved to Oklahoma following a divorce from her manager husband Bob Green, Bryant was a polarizing figure in the region who organized a campaign to overturn an anti-discrimination ordinance that protected gay rights in Miami-Dade County.

In addition to her early career success, she served as a spokesperson for Florida orange juice and Coca-Cola, who eventually became well-known for being a devout evangelical Christian and her anti-LGBTQ stances, which was celebrated by religious conservatives and rebuked by LGBTQ rights advocates.

A conversation with Anita Bryant’s ex husband Bob Green

Miami Herald reporter Steve Rothaus interviewed Bryant’s ex husband Bob Green in 2007, where they discussed the fallout of Anita Bryant’s successful campaign to overturn a Dade County anti-discrimination ordinance. Green, who was Bryant’s manager, said the scrutiny Bryant felt after becoming an activist led to their separation.

“The pressure was so great on her, I really believe that was the time she decided to get the divorce,” he said.

‘The Day It Snowed In Miami’

“The Day It Snowed In Miami” is a documentary produced by the Miami Herald and WPBT2 that explores a Miami before it became the gay-friendly destination it is today— when teachers were fired for their sexual orientation and “morals” squads would raid gay bars and publicly humiliate patrons. Speakers would visit public schools warning children of the dangers of homosexuality.

Miami would be thrown to the forefront of the gay rights movement as a groundswell of conservatives led by former beauty queen turned orange juice pitch woman Anita Bryant fought successfully to overturn an ordinance that would protect gay people from discrimination.

Eventually, Anita Bryant and her supporters would successfully petition to put the new ordinance to a referendum, which voters overwhelmingly repealed. But the battle that took place in Miami after the city’s only snowfall galvanized the gay population.

Photo Gallery: Anita Bryant in Miami through the years

In the late 1970s, Bryant could be found at commission meetings, churches and events throughout Miami as she advocated for conservatives causes. Take a look at photos from the Miami Herald archives of her through the years.