Anita Bryant, 1940 - 2025

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
17,962
Reaction score
4,919
Location
dunking doughnuts at Dunkin' Donuts

BenPanced

THE BLUEBERRY QUEEN OF HADES (he/him)
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
17,962
Reaction score
4,919
Location
dunking doughnuts at Dunkin' Donuts
For some further context why I posted this here:

Back when I first realized something was up with me, I had NO INKLING on what it was called. I hadn't made the connection that "faggot" was a derogatory term for being gay, just that it was something lots of other kids called me. I also didn't understand the contexts of "gay" or "homosexual" or "gay rights" or whatever at the time, but I understood that she was a bully and a hateful person because she was publicly making fun of and shaming "gay" and "homosexual" people, and trying to get laws passed against them (that much I understood from social studies and Saturday morning showings of Schoolhouse Rock). I understood she didn't like "gay" and "homosexual" people but, even though these were foreign words to me, I knew she was a horrible person because they were different than her; having been bullied for being different and always being taught to be a good person by my mother, I couldn't see what Anita Bryant was doing was inherently good. After many centuries, I'd finally gotten more information on "gay" and "homosexual" and how they applied to me, in the process getting my shit together (or as well as I could.)
I have friends who think I'm foolish to write this letter. I hope they're wrong. I hope their doubts are
based on parents who loved and trusted them less than mine do. I hope especially that you'll see this
as an act of love on my part, a sign of my continuing need to share my life with you. I wouldn't have
written, I guess, if you hadn't told me about your involvement in the Save Our Children campaign.
That, more than anything, made it clear that my responsibility was to tell you the truth, that your
own child is homosexual, and that I never needed saving from anything except the cruel and
ignorant piety of people like Anita Bryant.
"A Letter to Mama", More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin, as read by Sir Ian McKellan. (This was Maupin's coming out letter to his parents.)
 
Last edited:

Maryn

Not Modding
Staff member
Super Moderator
Moderator
Kind Benefactor
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Feb 12, 2005
Messages
59,157
Reaction score
32,761
Location
Around...
I regret to learn that she wrote a book, because I am required to respect my fellow writer.

But you know, I don't see Mac around much these days. I bet I can get away with saying, in regard to Ms. Bryant's death at 84, that it came later than seems right or fair.
 

deepprincealain

Super Member
Registered
Joined
Mar 17, 2008
Messages
3,715
Reaction score
3,073
Location
Nowhere. Now here.
Between her and lePen, it's early Xmas...
I read this and thought something happened to Marine LePen and of course find out she’s 56 and still among the living. Since this isn’t P&CE I’m going to leave that piece there.

As regards the topic of this thread I learned long ago that that old adage don’t speak ill of the dead isn’t applicable in all cases. If people wanted you to write warmly about them, they should have behaved better. You own all your stories. But since Anita Bryant was a writer, I’ll just say, she verbally tortured my father figures who were going through their version of the holocaust because of HIV. She’s as close as the US has had to a person I would consider equivalent to my prison guard. Buh bye now.
 

Lakey

professional dilettante
Staff member
Super Moderator
Super Member
Registered
Joined
Apr 20, 2017
Messages
3,243
Reaction score
5,361
Location
New England