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ANITA BRYANT FILES FOR DIVORCE
'CONNECTIONS5
Selma, Alabama (AP) - The breakup of her marriage
may be the most painful experience in her life, but
controversial singer Anita Bryant said trouble had been
brewing in the 20-year union from the very start.
In an interview arranged by Hurst, Texas, evangelist James Robison, Bryant talked about her fight to save
the marriage and the circumstances leading to the breakup with husband Bob Green, a former disc jockey.
"We sought counseling, different kinds of counseling from different approaches," she said. "I wanted
to save my marriage, but because of a (recent) set of
circumstances, I decided that was not quite the route
to go."
Since filing for divorce in Miami, Bryant has been
in seclusion in Selma, Alabama with her four children.
In her divorce petition, Bryant charged that Green,
her manager, had cooperated "with certain hired staff
members who conspired to control me and to use my name
and reputation to build their personal careers instead
of my ministry."
She said she believes divorce is a sin and "I have
to accept 50 percent of the blame. I am seeking the
will of God, living one day at a time. There are hurts
and scars that need time to heal.
"I came from a broken home and have been so concerned about my own family that, divorce has not even
been in my vocabulary. It's against everything that I
believe in."
Bryant has resigned from Anita Bryant Ministries
and asked that its name be changed. After gaining
national attention for her anti-homosexuality stand, she
established the organization to help homosexuals change
their lifestyles.
All her Christian 'concerts were canceled when news
of the divorce was made''public and she has two secular
concerts scheduled.
"The only income we've had has been with the ministries and now that's gone," she said.
Robison, a fundamental evangelist who also gained
attention when his Dallas television program was canceled following an anti-homosexuality sermon, has counseled
Bryant since the breakup, she said.
"When I asked if he would stand with me, he said he
would and all I could do was cry. I never suspected
anyone in the fundamentalist community could embrace
me in that way, and I have praised the Lord ever since,"
she said.
"My immediate goals are licking my wounds, concentrating on my children and clinging to the Lord.
"God loves me where I am."
CITRUS COMMISSION PRUNES BRYANT
KPFT—Singer Anita Bryant may have made her final
commercial on behalf of the Florida Citrus Commission.
The agency which handles the commission's advertising says that no more commercials with the contro-'
versial singer are planned. According to the agency's
Douglas Hoffer, Bryant is through as a Florida orange
juice spokesperson, "if the commission goes along with
it."
It is believed that gay-sponsored boycotts of
Florida citrus products have cut into orange juice sales
nationwide. Recently, two major Florida orange juice
companies applied for permission to remove the word
"Florida" from their labels, indicating that the designation on the label was having an adverse effect on
sales.
-Reprinted from the METRO STAR
ANITA'S FINANCES
by Larry Bush
In filings recently released by the Internal Revenue Service, Anita Bryant has indicated that her anti-
gay organizations had provided virtually no funding for
her promised program while collecting over two million
dollars from the public. The IRS, while refusing carr
ment on Bryant's continued tax-exempt and tax-deductible
status, indicated that a tax audit may be in the offing.
Both Anita Bryant Ministries, Inc., allegedly a
religious counseling program, and Protect America's
Children, a "morality" lobby that engages in political
activity, entered tax statements showing the lion's
share of expenses had gone to fundraising and that
neither group had "launched" its ostensible program.
Protect America's Children had as its aim an
explicitly political function, and it incorporated in
1977 for a tax-exempt, though not tax-deductible status.
Under IRS guidelines it could be used as a vehicle for
campaign activity.
Anita Bryant Ministries, Inc., was also launched in
1977 in an effort to counter criticism that Bryant was
engaged only in negative activity. Bryant announced
with the formation of Anita Bryant Ministries that she
would establish counseling centers for homosexuals as
well as for others who had drifted away from her brand
of fundamentalist Christianity.
In the filings, however, Bryant is only able to
report success at raising funds.
Anita Bryant Ministries reports netting almost one
million dollars in contributions. Under "Program Activity" it reports that only $150 of that amount went to
"counseling." That was less than the funds spent on
press and photos, consulting fees or Christmas gifts.
The bulk of the expenses was for "direct mail fundraising letters for raising contributions, gifts, grants,
etc. totaling nearly $400,000.00 The remaining half
million dollars was bankrolled at the end of the year.
Protect America's Children by its political lobby
raised almost 1.3 million dollars that same year.
Reprinted from UPFRONT
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