Bryant herself linked the gay-rights fight to defending segregated religious schools

Evidence

In 1977, Anita Bryant, a former Miss Oklahoma and runner-up Miss America, had organized a movement, Save Our Children, to rescind an ordinance in Dade County, Florida, that protected the rights of gays and lesbians. Even Bryant, however, recognized that the school issue and tax exemption lay at the heart of the Religious Right. “I believe the day of the comfortable Christian is over,” she declared. “Maybe it hasn’t reached everybody in the rural areas, but it’s a battle in the cities to keep them from taking over and reaching private and religious schools.” — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 123

Categorization

• XREF: Confirms the book’s overarching thesis that school segregation/IRS was the true organizing grievance that even Bryant privatedly named. — connects to: Even Anita Bryant linked her gay-rights fight to the school and tax-exemption battle — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith: Race and the Rise of the…, 121

Related

• Even Anita Bryant linked her gay-rights fight to the school and tax-exemption battle (similarity 0.97)

Broader Connections

• Even Anita Bryant linked her gay-rights fight to the school and tax-exemption battle #corroborates (1.00) — Randall Balmer, Bad Faith, 121