The granddaughter of a notorious anti-gay rights activist is marrying a woman - and she's not sure whether to invite her grandmother to the wedding
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Singer Anita Bryant spearheaded the anti-gay rights movement in Miami in the 1970s.
On an episode of the "One Year" podcast, Sarah Green, Bryant's granddaughter, said she told her grandmother she was gay on her 21st birthday.
Green says Bryant still believes homosexuality isn't real, and she's unsure whether she'll invite her grandmother to her same-sex wedding.
Sarah Green said she came out to her grandmother, anti-gay rights crusader Anita Bryant, on her 21st birthday.
After Bryant, a famed singer and devout Christian, sang Green "Happy Birthday," she told her a husband would be in her future.
"And I just snapped and was like, 'I hope that he doesn't come along because I'm gay, and I don't want a man to come along,'" Green said on an episode of Slate's podcast "One Year."
That's when Green said her grandmother told her homosexuality doesn't exist.
Bryant, who was also a beauty queen and orange juice spokesperson, became a vocal anti-gay speaker in Miami in 1977. In her speeches, Bryant would say being gay was a choice and a sin to rally audiences against queer-friendly legislation, the Washington Post reported.
Now 81, Bryant lives in a world where gay marriage is legal, and her granddaughter is planning her own nuptials with another woman.
Green said her grandmother told her being gay is a devil-created delusion
When Green came out to Bryant, Bryant told her to focus on her love of God, and that doing so would remind her she was straight, Green said during the podcast.
"It's very hard to argue with someone who thinks that an integral part of your identity is just an evil delusion," Green said. "She wants a relationship with a person who doesn't exist because I'm not the person she wants me to be."
Green said she pities her grandmother for her anti-gay beliefs
It's been years since Green came out to Bryant. She's now planning her wedding, but is unsure if she should invite her grandmother.
"I think I probably will eventually just call her and ask if she even wants an invitation, because I genuinely do not know how she would respond. I don't know if she would be offended if I didn't invite her," Green said on the episode.
Her father and Bryant's son, Robert Green, said Bryant's "face froze" when she learned of the engagement.
"All at once, her eyes widened, her smile opened, and out came the oddest sound: 'Oh.' Instead of taking Sarah as she is, my mom has chosen to pray that Sarah will eventually conform to my mom's idea of what God wants Sarah to be," Robert said on the episode.
Green said she doesn't hate her grandmother for her anti-gay views.
"I just kind of feel bad for her. And I think as much as she hopes that I will figure things out and come back to God, I kind of hope that she'll figure things out," said Green.
Read the original article on Insider
