Iowa Almanac
Iowa Almanac -- Monday, October 14, 2024
A fruit pie. More from the Iowa Almanac in a moment. Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Now is the time to make a plan. Whether you plan to vote absentee by mail in person at your county auditor's office before election day or at your polling place on November 5th, it's important you take steps now to make your plan at voterready.iowa.gov. Remember, Election Day is Tuesday, November 5th. Buy more information at voterready.iowa.gov. This message presented by the Iowa Secretary of State. Anita Bryant was known in the 1950s and 1960s as a singer. Then, as the commercial spokesperson for Florida Orange Juice. By the mid-1970s, she became active in the anti-gay rights movement, first in Florida and then around the country. That's what led her to come to Des Moines on October 14th, 1977. Only two months before, her efforts led to repeal of an anti-discrimination ordinance in her home state. She was speaking at a news conference when suddenly a gay rights activist from Minnesota named Tom Higgins hit Bryant in the face with a cream pie. It sounded like this. She tried to avoid it and went into a place called North Fork, Virginia and were met with protests and all kinds of problems. And, uh, everything. Security agent security agent. No, no, let him stay. Well, at least it's a fruit pie. Immediately afterward, Bryant and her husband, Bob Green, prayed for God to forgive the activist for his deviant lifestyle. Higgins was one of four who attended the news conference to protest against Bryant. They brought with them a spare pie. Bryant's husband confronted the four outside the news conference and tossed that spare pie into the face of one of the protesters. No charges were filed. The issue of gay rights still raises controversy. One of the most public displays of the dispute came in Des Moines when Anita Bryant was hit in the face with a pie by a gay rights activist on this date in 1977. And that's Iowa Almanac for October 14th. There's more online at IowaAlmanac.com. Until tomorrow, I'm Jeff Stein.