Anita Bryant

Artist: Anita Bryant

LP: As Long As He Needs Me

Song: "Fly Me to the Moon"

[ listen ]

When all-American singer and former beauty queen Anita Bryant launched her national "Save Our Children" crusade back in 1977 in hopes of making it legal to discriminate against homosexuals, gay rights activists across the country came up with various ways of letting Anita know how she made them feel. They organized protests at Anita's public speaking engagements; they started a national boycott of Florida orange juice (Bryant was spokesperson for the Florida Citrus Commission); in Des Moines, Iowa they hit her in the face with a pie when she was on TV—brilliant! But it was actually Anita Bryant herself who, on her 1963 "As Long As He Needs Me" LP, suggested a more lasting solution to the problem of her meddling with the rights and lives of others. There aren't any gay people on the moon. And after Anita has been there for awhile, playing amongst the stars, I vote we go ahead and let her find out what spring is like on Jupiter and Mars.

Anita Bryant on YouTube:

[ "Pie Fight" ]