Gloria Steinem, the pioneering journalist, author and feminist organizer who became one of the most recognizable leaders of the modern women’s rights movement, has died at 92.
Steinem died Wednesday at her home in New York City, surrounded by people who loved her, according to a statement posted Thursday on her official Instagram account. The statement said Steinem continued working for equality until the end of her life.
For more than six decades, Steinem used journalism, political organizing and public speaking to challenge discrimination against women and advocate for reproductive freedom, equal rights and broader social justice. Her activism also extended to LGBTQ+ rights, particularly the rights of lesbians and, later in her life, transgender people.
Her death marks the passing of one of the defining figures of second-wave feminism, a movement that reshaped American politics, workplaces, media and public attitudes toward women.
“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard,” the statement posted to her official account said. “Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves.”
From journalist to feminist icon
Born March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem initially established herself as a journalist. She gained national attention in 1963 with “A Bunny’s Tale,” an undercover investigation for Show magazine in which she worked as a Playboy Bunny and documented the treatment and working conditions of women at the Playboy Club.
The experience helped expose the gap between the glamorous image presented to the public and the realities faced by women working there.
Steinem later became a political writer and helped found New York magazine in 1968. Her journalism increasingly focused on social and political issues, including the emerging women’s liberation movement.
Her transformation from journalist to activist accelerated after she publicly discussed having an abortion overseas when she was 22. In 1969, she spoke at an abortion-rights event in New York, an experience she later described as pivotal to her decision to become more directly involved in the women’s movement.
Steinem became a leading advocate for reproductive rights and the Equal Rights Amendment. In 1970, she testified before a Senate committee supporting the ERA, helping bring feminist arguments about workplace, economic and legal discrimination into the national political conversation.
She also helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus, which worked to increase women’s participation in politics and public life.
Ms. magazine and a new voice for women
In the early 1970s, Steinem joined journalists Patricia Carbine and Letty Cottin Pogrebin to create Ms. magazine, which began as an insert in New York magazine before becoming an independent publication.
Ms. provided a national platform for discussions of sexism, reproductive rights, domestic violence, workplace discrimination and other issues that mainstream media had often ignored or treated as private concerns.
Steinem remained closely associated with the publication and became an enduring symbol of the women’s movement.
Her influence extended beyond the magazine. She helped establish or support organizations including the Women’s Action Alliance, Voters for Choice and the Women’s Media Center. She also worked alongside activists from different racial, economic and political backgrounds, increasingly emphasizing the connections among gender, race and economic inequality.
President Barack Obama awarded Steinem the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013 in recognition of her contributions to American society.
An ally to LGBTQ+ Americans
Although Steinem became best known for her work on women’s rights, her activism also intersected with the LGBTQ+ rights movement.
In the 1970s, she publicly defended lesbians and opposed efforts to use anti-gay prejudice to divide the women’s movement. In 1977, she traveled to Miami to support gay activists fighting an anti-gay campaign led by singer Anita Bryant. That same year, Steinem spoke about the discrimination lesbians faced and argued that the word “lesbian” should be treated as an honorable identity rather than a slur.
Steinem also eventually became a supporter of same-sex marriage. In 2004, she argued that defining sexuality primarily through reproduction oppressed both women and gay men and lesbians.
Her relationship with transgender rights was more complicated. Steinem faced criticism for a 1977 essay concerning transgender people and gender identity. Decades later, she revisited those comments and acknowledged that her earlier words had been taken out of their original context.
In a 2013 essay, Steinem explicitly affirmed transgender people’s right to live authentically and said their lives should be celebrated rather than questioned. She later opposed efforts to eliminate civil-rights protections for transgender people and described transgender legal equality as an important LGBTQ+ priority.
That evolution became an important part of Steinem’s later legacy: a willingness to reconsider earlier positions while continuing to advocate for people facing discrimination based on gender and sexuality.
A legacy larger than one movement
Steinem’s influence reached far beyond the organizations she helped create.
She became a fixture at political rallies, women’s conferences and demonstrations, speaking to generations of activists about equality and social change. She remained publicly engaged well into her 80s and 90s, including participating in the 2017 Women’s March in Washington.
Her life also became the subject of books, documentaries and the 2020 film “The Glorias,” which portrayed different periods of her life and activism.
Steinem’s supporters often viewed her greatest contribution not simply as advancing individual policies, but as helping change the language Americans used to discuss gender and power.
She frequently rejected the idea that feminism was about helping a small number of women succeed within an unchanged system. Instead, she argued for a broader transformation of society.
“Feminism has never been about getting a job for one woman,” Steinem said. “It’s about making life more fair for women everywhere.”
That philosophy helped define her public life.
Steinem leaves behind a legacy that spans journalism, feminism, reproductive rights, political organizing and LGBTQ+ advocacy. Her work helped open doors for women and LGBTQ+ Americans who followed, while her willingness to confront inequality made her one of the most influential American activists of the modern era.
As the women’s and LGBTQ+ rights movements continue to confront battles over reproductive freedom, gender equality and discrimination, Steinem’s central message remains relevant: social progress depends on people organizing together and refusing to accept inequality as inevitable.
