“Anita Bryant Sucks Oranges!”
By Nick Buchler
buchlern@vcu.edu
As October comes to a close, so does LGBT history month. About a year ago, I shakily came out to friends and family as a gay man, releasing years of confusion and fear in exchange for self-love and acceptance. As any member of the community can explain, it was never an easy journey, but time can truly mend wounds and cultivate growth. In honor of my one-year anniversary of this personal life-changing event and even more so in the dedication of the history of our community and my queer friends within the Honors College, I took a look back to the roots and struggles of our community.
As any member of the community can explain, it was never an easy journey, but time can truly mend wounds and cultivate growth.
Perhaps one of the largest and most memorable moments in LGBT history falls in the late 1970s political and social tug of war between Anita Bryant, American singer, and anti-gay activist, and the queer community.
Through the late 1960s and 70s, the Gay Liberation front flooded many major cities in America, demanding equivalent rights and protections against discrimination that was commonplace across the world. It was not until 1973 that homosexuality was delisted from the American Psychological Association as a mental illness. Even then, a majority of the nation stubbornly refused to accept this change as valid. Rumors and misunderstandings were certainly hard to erase from public knowledge, and even more so as misunderstandings merged with sheer ignorance. With more metropolitan areas eyeing basic anti-discriminatory policies to protect queer individuals, Christian organizations began to panic, especially after seeing this activity in Florida. More opposition to the queer community followed when many Christian groups began to crusade the idea of conversion therapy and pushed more and more hatred and disdain outward.
In 1977, Anita Bryant rose to the forefront of anti-gay activism, commonly using homophobic tirades disguised as conservative values as a way to terrorize families into following her views. By using the misunderstandings of homosexuality, she used the fears of each and every American in an attempt to persuade them to choose to oppose the gay liberation front. Often, she warned that homosexuality would invade the family, causing issues such as divorce, pedophilia, and overall devastation. Her reasoning often took the form of a slippery slope of basic logical fallacies, - centered around the idea that terrible unrelated results would spiral outwards if anti-discriminatory laws were made. She stressed her mission was to “Save Our Children,” but it was nothing more than a repetitive tagline. This, of course, terrified conservative families of America, who resonated with the idea that liberal motives were invading their private life. As a result, in 1977 in a Floridian county, several anti-discriminatory policies protecting LGBT individuals in Florida were overturned with the support of conservative voters.
After this defeat on June 7th, 1977, public outcry from gay rights activists and organizations followed, creating a boycott for the public face of Anita Bryant herself as spokeswoman for the Citrus Commission of Florida. Orange juice companies were ditched in protest by a majority of the queer community, especially gay bars and establishments. The slogan “Anita Bryant sucks (oranges)” was created and picked up to draw attention and call out against Bryant and her beliefs.
Though retrospectively the boycott is not cited as the main reason Bryant was dropped from the Florida Citrus Commission, it severely tarnished the reputation she once held. The controversy between Bryant and gay rights activists put into question her role within the idea of traditional wholesome Americana. However, Bryant’s image of a quaint and conservative household soon vanished as her marriage fell to pieces in 1980. This event within itself called many to see Bryant as a hypocrite for violating her own beliefs of what traditional families should look like. It angered many that Bryant had pushed her own views onto others but yet could not sustain the family unit she demanded from the country. As a result, not only was she shunned by progressive and queer communities, but she faced tremendous backlash from Christian groups and organizations over her divorce.
What can be remembered through this is the power that community can have. There were many rights lost due to the actions of Anita Bryant, but with the community, there was enough public outcry to certainly damage her reputation and legacy. Today, it is difficult for most to remember her for anything but music, oranges, and blatant homophobia.
Within the Honors College, it is clear that we exemplify that feeling of community. We hold different values and histories, but hold the commonality of our drives and determinations. The diversity of backgrounds has allowed us to understand each other in ways that are unlike any other, ones that cannot be replicated in any other environment. There are many battles each of us has faced, and even more than some of us will continue to face. To acknowledge the history of these events is not backing down against the face of adversity, but to moving forward with each step amongst integrity.