Homophobe Anita Bryant's Granddaughter Is Engaged To A Woman - Comic Sands

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        Famed Homophobe Anita Bryant Gets Ultimate Karma After Granddaughter Gets Engaged To A Woman
    

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By Peter KarlebyJul 28, 2021
Peter Karleby
Peter Karleby is a writer, content producer and performer originally from Michigan. His writing has also appeared on YourTango, Delish and Medium, and he has produced content for NBC, The New York Times and The CW, among others. When not working, he can be found tripping over his own feet on a hiking trail while singing Madonna songs to ward off lurking bears.
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For people of a certain age, there is no more famous--or infamous--homophobe than evangelical Christian singer and television personality Anita Bryant.
A 1970s beauty queen, singer and television personality who became a passionate public crusader against gay people, who she claimed were pedophiles, Bryant is best remembered for getting a pie thrown in her face by an LGBTQ-rights activist during a 1977 press conference. 
And now, all these years later, the 81-year-old bigot is getting another figurative pie to the face.
Her granddaughter, Sarah Green, is marrying a woman. 
Guess all of Bryant's activism failed, huh?
It sounds like notorious antigay crusader Anita Bryant\u2019s worst nightmare: Her granddaughter is gay and marrying a woman.https://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=people\u00a0\u2026
 — The Advocate (@The Advocate)
        1627412401
Green recently spoke publicly about  her experience coming out at the age of 21 to her grandmother, who responded by telling her that homosexuality is a delusion created by the devil and that if she focused on loving God, He would turn her straight. Green also said that she and her fiancé are still debating over whether to invite Bryant to the wedding. 
But while many of us would be angry with our family member in this situation, Green feels something different for her deluded grandmother: pity.
"I just kind of feel bad for her. And I think as much as she hopes that I will figure things out and come back to God, I kind of hope that she'll figure things out."Green's discussion of Bryant was part of a recent episode of the Slate podcast "One Year" focusing on the year 1977, when Bryant's anti-gay campaigns reached a fever pitch. 
That year, Miami-Dade County passed a landmark ordinance protecting LGBTQ people from employment and housing discrimination, the first municipality in the U.S. to do so. 
Bryant, who was the spokesperson for the Florida citrus industry at the time, launched a campaign she called "Save Our Children" to overturn the law on the basis of a claim that gay people are pedophiles and should not be allowed to hold certain jobs, like teaching in schools. Naturally, Bryant became the darling of the Christian right at the time, and reviled by more right-minded people. 
So much so that Bryant is no longer remembered for her Top 40 music or television career but rather for the moment when gay-rights activist Tom Higgins threw a pie in her face on national television.
youtu.be
In response, Bryant quipped "At least it's a fruit pie" before breaking down in sobs and praying that Higgins be "delivered from his deviant lifetstyle." All while, you know, scraping pie off her face. 
Giphy
The news of Green's engagement of course sparked lots of conversation on Twitter, including by people like writer Dan Savage who recalled in a tweet thread the trauma of having to listen to  Bryant's anti-LGBTQ hatred as a young closeted gay person.
I was 12 years old when Bryant waged her campaign against gay teachers and called gay people pedophiles. My mom thought she was wrong, my dad thought she was right. They argued about it in the car with their closeted gay kid listening in the backseat.
 — Dan Savage (@Dan Savage)
        1627401230

I couldn't tell them\u2014my mom and my dad\u2014and I couldn't trust them\u2014my three siblings\u2014not to tell my mom and dad. Multiply the damage Bryant did to me by millions, by all the other gay kids out there, and you can understand why my hatred for her remains white hot to this day.
 — Dan Savage (@Dan Savage)
        1627401597
For many others on Twitter, the schadenfreude towards Bryant was deep and real.
Anti-gay loon Anita Bryant, the Mike Pence of her day, is, oddly, still alive. And her LGBTQ grandaughter, Sarah Green, is about to marry a woman. Anita called gay people "human garbage" and still says that homosexuality "doesn't exist." Best wishes to Sarah and her wife-to-be!pic.twitter.com/WuYxvTliJ0
 — Paul Rudnick (@Paul Rudnick)
        1627405830

World\u2019s biggest pie in the face: Anita Bryant\u2019s granddaughter is gay and marrying a woman.pic.twitter.com/ln54SUAvc3
 — Kate Davison (@Kate Davison)
        1627457888


I will be laughing about this for ~eternityhttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/07/anita-bryants-granddaughter-marrying-woman-grandma-isnt-happy-bride/\u00a0\u2026
 — Hugh Ryan (@Hugh Ryan)
        1627416956

Every time I see a satisfying story like this one I think, with wry glee, \u201cAnita Bryant must be spinning in her grave,\u201d and then I remember she\u2019s still alive. But she\u2019ll die mad. (via @cmcasarez)https://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay\u00a0\u2026
 — Stacey Burns (@Stacey Burns)
        1627474019

I can\u2019t stop laughing.https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/07/anita-bryants-granddaughter-marrying-woman-grandma-isnt-happy-bride/\u00a0\u2026
 — Britni de la Cretaz (@Britni de la Cretaz)
        1627417416

Anita Bryant\u2019s gay granddaughter be like:pic.twitter.com/bwhlIebLGw
 — Love, Brandon B. \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Love, Brandon B. \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08)
        1627458898

Delicious xhttps://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=people\u00a0\u2026
 — Royal Vauxhall Tavern (@Royal Vauxhall Tavern)
        1627483713

Well.https://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay\u00a0\u2026
 — Adam Smith (@Adam Smith)
        1627479340

This is the only news I want and will ever wanthttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/07/anita-bryants-granddaughter-marrying-woman-grandma-isnt-happy-bride/\u00a0\u2026
 — Sham (@Sham)
        1627418423

I just read that anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant\u2019s granddaughter is gay and marrying the woman she loves. I\u2019m not sure I can express how much joy that brings me.
 — Dana Goldberg (@Dana Goldberg)
        1627423386
Though Bryant succeeded in her fight to repeal the Miami gay-rights ordinance, her anti-LGBTQ crusade was ultimately unsuccessful—she is widely cited as having triggered a leveling-up of the LGBTQ rights movement that directly led to the advances we know today.
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For people of a certain age, there is no more famous--or infamous--homophobe than evangelical Christian singer and television personality Anita Bryant.

A 1970s beauty queen, singer and television personality who became a passionate public crusader against gay people, who she claimed were pedophiles, Bryant is best remembered for getting a pie thrown in her face by an LGBTQ-rights activist during a 1977 press conference.

And now, all these years later, the 81-year-old bigot is getting another figurative pie to the face.

Her granddaughter, Sarah Green, is marrying a woman.

Guess all of Bryant's activism failed, huh?

It sounds like notorious antigay crusader Anita Bryant\u2019s worst nightmare: Her granddaughter is gay and marrying a woman.https://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=people\u00a0\u2026
— The Advocate (@The Advocate) 1627412401

Green recently spoke publicly about her experience coming out at the age of 21 to her grandmother, who responded by telling her that homosexuality is a delusion created by the devil and that if she focused on loving God, He would turn her straight. Green also said that she and her fiancé are still debating over whether to invite Bryant to the wedding.

But while many of us would be angry with our family member in this situation, Green feels something different for her deluded grandmother: pity.

"I just kind of feel bad for her. And I think as much as she hopes that I will figure things out and come back to God, I kind of hope that she'll figure things out."

Green's discussion of Bryant was part of a recent episode of the Slate podcast "One Year" focusing on the year 1977, when Bryant's anti-gay campaigns reached a fever pitch.

That year, Miami-Dade County passed a landmark ordinance protecting LGBTQ people from employment and housing discrimination, the first municipality in the U.S. to do so.

Bryant, who was the spokesperson for the Florida citrus industry at the time, launched a campaign she called "Save Our Children" to overturn the law on the basis of a claim that gay people are pedophiles and should not be allowed to hold certain jobs, like teaching in schools. Naturally, Bryant became the darling of the Christian right at the time, and reviled by more right-minded people.

So much so that Bryant is no longer remembered for her Top 40 music or television career but rather for the moment when gay-rights activist Tom Higgins threw a pie in her face on national television.

In response, Bryant quipped "At least it's a fruit pie" before breaking down in sobs and praying that Higgins be "delivered from his deviant lifetstyle." All while, you know, scraping pie off her face.

The news of Green's engagement of course sparked lots of conversation on Twitter, including by people like writer Dan Savage who recalled in a tweet thread the trauma of having to listen to Bryant's anti-LGBTQ hatred as a young closeted gay person.

I was 12 years old when Bryant waged her campaign against gay teachers and called gay people pedophiles. My mom thought she was wrong, my dad thought she was right. They argued about it in the car with their closeted gay kid listening in the backseat.
— Dan Savage (@Dan Savage) 1627401230

I couldn't tell them\u2014my mom and my dad\u2014and I couldn't trust them\u2014my three siblings\u2014not to tell my mom and dad. Multiply the damage Bryant did to me by millions, by all the other gay kids out there, and you can understand why my hatred for her remains white hot to this day.
— Dan Savage (@Dan Savage) 1627401597

For many others on Twitter, the schadenfreude towards Bryant was deep and real.

Anti-gay loon Anita Bryant, the Mike Pence of her day, is, oddly, still alive. And her LGBTQ grandaughter, Sarah Green, is about to marry a woman. Anita called gay people "human garbage" and still says that homosexuality "doesn't exist." Best wishes to Sarah and her wife-to-be!pic.twitter.com/WuYxvTliJ0
— Paul Rudnick (@Paul Rudnick) 1627405830

World\u2019s biggest pie in the face: Anita Bryant\u2019s granddaughter is gay and marrying a woman.pic.twitter.com/ln54SUAvc3
— Kate Davison (@Kate Davison) 1627457888

I will be laughing about this for ~eternityhttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/07/anita-bryants-granddaughter-marrying-woman-grandma-isnt-happy-bride/\u00a0\u2026
— Hugh Ryan (@Hugh Ryan) 1627416956

Every time I see a satisfying story like this one I think, with wry glee, \u201cAnita Bryant must be spinning in her grave,\u201d and then I remember she\u2019s still alive. But she\u2019ll die mad. (via @cmcasarez)https://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay\u00a0\u2026
— Stacey Burns (@Stacey Burns) 1627474019

I can\u2019t stop laughing.https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/07/anita-bryants-granddaughter-marrying-woman-grandma-isnt-happy-bride/\u00a0\u2026
— Britni de la Cretaz (@Britni de la Cretaz) 1627417416

Anita Bryant\u2019s gay granddaughter be like:pic.twitter.com/bwhlIebLGw
— Love, Brandon B. \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08 (@Love, Brandon B. \ud83c\udff3\ufe0f\u200d\ud83c\udf08) 1627458898

Delicious xhttps://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=people\u00a0\u2026
— Royal Vauxhall Tavern (@Royal Vauxhall Tavern) 1627483713

Well.https://www.advocate.com/people/2021/7/27/another-pie-face-anita-bryant-her-granddaughter-gay\u00a0\u2026
— Adam Smith (@Adam Smith) 1627479340

This is the only news I want and will ever wanthttps://www.lgbtqnation.com/2021/07/anita-bryants-granddaughter-marrying-woman-grandma-isnt-happy-bride/\u00a0\u2026
— Sham (@Sham) 1627418423

I just read that anti-gay crusader Anita Bryant\u2019s granddaughter is gay and marrying the woman she loves. I\u2019m not sure I can express how much joy that brings me.
— Dana Goldberg (@Dana Goldberg) 1627423386

Though Bryant succeeded in her fight to repeal the Miami gay-rights ordinance, her anti-LGBTQ crusade was ultimately unsuccessful—she is widely cited as having triggered a leveling-up of the LGBTQ rights movement that directly led to the advances we know today.

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