If you were to walk into a queer bar in the late 1970s or early 80s and tried ordering the famous Screwdriver — vodka and orange juice — the bartender would flatly deny your request. Instead, they would offer you a queer-rights friendly drink, the “Anita Bryant Cocktail,” made of apple juice and vodka. Orange juice had effectively been banned across communities by human rights activists during the Florida orange juice boycott. The boycott — which spread nationwide — would eventually lead to the Anita Bryant Cocktail becoming the unofficial gay rights drink.
Orange juice was traditionally a more popular juice to mix vodka with, mainly because of its acidity being able to balance the alcohol kick, but apple juice brings a sweeter, more subtle flavor. It’s not the flavor that matters here, though, it’s the cocktail’s historical presence as a major symbol in early gay-rights activism.
Who was Anita Bryant?
In the 1970s and 80s, some parts of America were much more established in equal rights for members of the LGBTQ+ community. Protests large and small swept across major cities like San Francisco, Chicago, and New York with the famous 1969 Stonewall riots. Although the country was slowly progressing, there was still a lot of backlash and harassment from politicians and police. Still, people were surviving in areas such as Miami, while fostering a good relationship with tourists and locals. In 1977 in Dade County, Florida, Ordinance 77-4 was introduced. It protected individuals from discrimination based on sexual orientation at the county level. The ordinance was approved on January 18, 1977, and the county commission passed the legislation.
Anita Bryant, who was a resident of Dade County, complained and pushed back against the proposition. Bryant was a former beauty queen, singer/songwriter, and a longtime spokeswoman for the Florida Citrus Commission. Besides that, she was a major conservative activist, famously known for her anti-gay rights advocacy. She called for a recall election, which then redrew that piece of legislation in a “landslide victory” on June 7 1977, and the community reverted back to a time where residents could be fired from their jobs and kicked out of their houses all because of their sexual orientation. Robert Keston, president and CEO of the Stonewall Museum told Spoon in an interview, “People like Anita Bryant did not understand the hurt and damage they were causing. They only saw what they thought they were losing, which was nothing. They couldn’t accept living in a world where people with different lifestyles lived equally as they did.”
What was the Florida orange juice boycott and the Anita Bryant Cocktail?
After the recall, LGBTQ+ members across different states realized there were no protections or procedures that could keep them safe from someone with conservative politicians behind them. In retaliation to the recall in Florida and the spread of Bryant’s “Save Our Children” campaign, human rights and LGBTQ+ activists launched a boycott against Florida orange juice.
The boycott reached national levels, changing bar culture across the country and plummeting sales of Florida oranges. Orange juice was no longer served in bars or restaurants, causing fewer and fewer people to order the famous Screwdriver. Instead, bartenders would substitute orange juice with apple juice, dubbing it the Anita Bryant Cocktail. The protest became so prominent nationwide that Florida citrus growers eventually turned on their number one marketer and fired Anita Bryant. Her withdrawal from public life became a powerful symbol in the fight for gay civil rights, marking a victory against oppressors, and proving that when enough people are passionate about change, it can be achieved.
“What is ultimately the lesson out of all of this is that it is vital for people to know history, because when you don’t know history the worst of us rises to the top. The more of the full story we know the better we are off as human beings.” Keston says.
The Stonewall Museum is located at 1300 E Sunrise Blvd, Fort Lauderdale, FL, or visit their website at https://stonewall-museum.org/. They are a lending library and contain official archives. They offer a number of educational programs, interviews with authors, and a host of activities to engage with community members of Florida and across the country.