Gloria Steinem, pioneering feminist author and Ms. magazine co-founder, dies at 92
Feminist activist, author, and Ms. magazine co-founder Gloria Steinem died on Wednesday at her home in New York City at age 92, her family announced on Thursday.
Passing in New York
Feminist activist, author, and journalist Gloria Steinem died on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, at her home in New York City at the age of 92. Her family announced her death on social media on Thursday, stating that she died peacefully surrounded by loved ones. No specific cause of death was released. In their statement, her representatives asked the public to light candles in her memory and direct charitable donations to Gloria's Foundation. Steinem was a leading figure of second-wave feminism in the United States, campaigning for over five decades on reproductive rights, the Equal Rights Amendment, workplace pay parity, and the prevention of domestic violence.
Undercover reporting and transition to activism
Born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, Steinem grew up in a household where her parents divorced when she was ten years old. She entered journalism in New York during the early 1960s. In 1963, she published an undercover investigative report titled "A Bunny's Tale," exposing low wages, exploitative working conditions, and mandatory medical examinations for waitresses at Hugh Hefner's Playboy Club. Steinem later cited an abortion speak-out in 1969 as the turning point that redirected her career from print journalism to public speaking. Having undergone an illegal abortion at age 22, she overcame a severe fear of public speaking after editors repeatedly rejected her pitches to report on the emerging women's movement.
- Born in Toledo, Ohio
- Published undercover investigative report on the New York Playboy Club
- Attended abortion speak-out that inspired her career turn to public activism
- Co-founded Ms. magazine to provide a national platform for feminist journalism
- Defended US President Bill Clinton against sexual harassment allegations
- Died peacefully at age 92 at her home in New York City
Founding Ms. magazine and political organizing
In 1971, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine to provide the first national platform for feminist journalism in the United States. The debut standalone issue sold out on newsstands across the country within eight days. Alongside her publishing work, Steinem co-founded the National Women's Political Caucus during the 1970s and helped organize the first National Women's Conference in Houston, Texas. Her organizing work took her across college campuses, labor unions, welfare rights groups, and organizations for lesbian, Indigenous, and Hispanic women. Her career brought honors including the US Presidential Medal of Freedom and Spain's Princess of Asturias Award, alongside criticism in 1998 when she publicly defended US President Bill Clinton during sexual harassment allegations.
Tributes and late-career work
Political figures, writers, and civil rights advocates published tributes following the announcement of her death. Former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, whose 2016 presidential campaign Steinem supported, spoke on CBS Mornings about Steinem's influence on the broader structure of women's rights and recounted visiting Steinem's home during the preceding year.
Her activism was rooted in optimism, and that's a moral choice, and she made it every day.
Author and social commentator Roxane Gay also reflected on Steinem's life and work in a public message.
Gloria was one of a kind. Genuine, generous, curious, thoughtful. She lived a staggering life and her passing is a staggering loss tempered only by the ferocity of her legacy.
Steinem continued her activism past the age of 80, traveling internationally to address issues including female genital mutilation and Korean peninsula peace efforts, while regularly hosting discussion circles for hundreds of participants at her New York residence.
