Feminist writer and activist Gloria Steinem has died at the age of 92, according to a statement posted on her Instagram page Thursday.
“Yesterday, Gloria Steinem passed away peacefully at her home in New York City, surrounded by some of the many who loved her,” the message read. “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.”
“Gloria’s greatest gift was her ability to listen to others, to make others feel seen and heard. Her words, actions, and example gave people permission to be their truest selves. Gloria lived true to her independent spirit, always with curiosity and a great sense of humor,” the statement continued.
The statement said Steinem “spent her recent years doing the two things she loved most: being in community with others and writing.”
“Gloria loved the tradition of lighting signal fires on hills to light the way to the other side of the mountain. Lighting your own candle for Gloria makes you part of this global and celestial community circle,” it added.
Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1934, Steinem was a “founder of New York and Ms. magazines, and is the author of An Unexpected Life, The Truth Will Set You Free, But First It Will Piss You Off, My Life on the Road, Moving Beyond Words, Revolution from Within, and Outrageous Acts and Everyday Rebellions, in addition to many collections and essays,” a biography on her website said.
“She co-founded the National Women’s Political Caucus, the Ms. Foundation for Women, the Free to Be Foundation, and the Women’s Media Center in the United States. As links to other countries, she helped found Equality Now, Donor Direct Action, and Direct Impact Africa,” it added.
“Among many tributes and honors for her activism, in 2013 she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama and in 2019, she received the Freedom Award from the National Civil Rights Museum,” the biography continued, noting that “Gloria’s home is the heart of Gloria’s Foundation and has become renowned as a magnetic and life-changing center for feminist and activist thinkers from around the world.”
Steinem “helped to found the Women’s Action Alliance, a pioneering national information center that specialized in nonsexist, multiracial children’s education, and the National Women’s Political Caucus, a group that continues to work to advance the numbers of pro-equality women in elected and appointed office at a national and state level.”
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“She also co-founded the Women’s Media Center in 2004. She was president and co-founder of Voters for Choice, a pro-choice political action committee for twenty-five years, then with the Planned Parenthood Action Fund when it merged with VFC for the 2004 elections,” her website said.
Steinem married businessman and animal rights activist David Bale in September 2000.
Bale, the father of actor Christian Bale, died three years later from primary brain lymphoma.
Steinem began her career as a journalist, notably one who reported, in 1963, on degrading conditions in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire, an undercover assignment she came to later regret, according to The Associated Press. She credited a meeting six years later, where women spoke out boldly in favor of abortion rights, with changing her career path.
“That speak-out was the beginning of activism for me,” Steinem, who had undergone a secret illegal abortion herself at age 22, told the AP in an email in 2022, reflecting on the reversal of Roe v Wade. “Either our control over our own bodies is equal, regardless of sex or race, or we’re not living in a democracy.”
Well into her 80s, Steinem was traveling the globe and speaking out on issues of importance to her. These included everything from genital mutilation to Korean reconciliation, but it was equality for women that took precedence.
“Being a feminist means that you see the world as whole instead of half,” she once said. “It shouldn’t need a name, and one day it won’t.”
In 2020, her life was the subject of a feature film, “The Glorias, A Life on The Road,” based on her 2015 memoir and starring Julianne Moore.
And at 91, she collaborated on a picture book with Liberian peace activist and Nobel laureate Leymah Gbowee aimed at inspiring young people to change the world. “Rise, Girl, Rise: Our Sister-Friend Journey. Together for All” was published in February 2026.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
