Cable network HBO is developing a biopic about Anita Bryant, a former beauty queen, singer, and a devout Christian who is also well known for opposing gay rights.
“She is a fascinating person on every single level,” said writer Chad Hodge. “The twists and turns of her life are incredible.” Sex and the City creator Darren Star will direct.
Bryant, now 69, led a highly publicized campaign in Florida in 1977 to repeal a county ordinance that prohibited discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation. As leader of a coalition called Save Our Children, Bryant feared the potential homosexual recruitment of children and child molestation, saying, “What these people really want, hidden behind obscure legal phrases, is the legal right to propose to our children that theirs is an acceptable alternate way of life. […] I will lead such a crusade to stop it as this country has not seen before.”
Bryant’s outspoken opposition led one gay rights activist to throw a pie in her face at one press conference; at the time, Bryant quipped, “At least it was a fruit pie.”
