Gloria Steinem, feminist campaigner and LGBTQ+ ally, dies aged 92
Gloria Steinem (Getty Images)
American activist, feminist and journalist Gloria Steinem has died aged 92.
The groundbreaking feminist rights campaigner helped to create greater rights for women across the world, fighting for equality into her 90s.
A statement shared to her Instagram revealed that she passed away yesterday (2 September) at her home in New York City “surrounded by some of the many who loved her”.
The statement continued to say: “Gloria’s near-century on earth were years well-lived, and she continued working for equality until the very end.”
Born in Ohio in 1934, Steinem saw first-hand the hostility her mother experienced as a working woman after her parents separated when she was 10 years old. This helped to shape her into an activist and journalist who brought a feminist perspective into the mainstream.
Throughout her life, Steinem authored nine books and campaigned for multiple causes, including against female genital mutilation, domestic violence, the Vietnam and Gulf wars, and the pornography industry. She was also a vocal LGBTQ+ ally who worked to advance rights for the community, along with the Black Lives Matter movement, the Times Up movement, and more.
Steinem made a name for herself in 1963 when she went undercover for 11 days as a Playboy Bunny to write a two-part exposé of how the women working in Hugh Hefner’s Playboy Club were treated. While undercover, Steinem lost 10lbs and was forced into tight costumes and high heels; in celebration, her manager made her costume even tighter. Following the publication of her infamous exposé, she was unable to get work.
As an LGBTQ advocate, Steinem highlighted the importance of the queer community and feminists working together. While speaking at the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association’s annual conference in the early 2000s, she said: “It just makes sense that feminists and gays should be supportive of one another. After all, we’re fighting the same enemies. The people who don’t want women’s rights are pretty much the same people who don’t want gay rights.”
Most of her life was spent fighting for causes she felt were important and bringing them into the mainstream. She told the Observer in 2011: “I hope to live to 100. There is so much to do.”
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