Gloria Steinem, Ms. Magazine Co-Founder, Dies at 92

Gloria Steinem’s death at 92 removes a central organizer from the American women’s movement at a moment when access to abortion and legal equality remain sharply contested. She died Wednesday at her New York City home, according to statements posted by her foundation on social media. The posts described her passing as peaceful and surrounded by loved ones.

Steinem began as a freelance journalist in New York. In 1963 she spent eleven days undercover as a Playboy Club waitress and published the resulting exposé, “A Bunny’s Tale,” in Show magazine; she later told The Associated Press she came to regret the assignment. Six years afterward she attended a speak-out on abortion rights that she credited with turning her toward sustained activism. She had obtained an illegal abortion herself at age 22 in London. In a 2022 email to the AP she wrote that the 1969 meeting marked “the beginning of activism for me” and added that equal bodily autonomy “regardless of sex or race” is required for democracy.

She co-founded Ms. magazine in 1972, helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus with Bella Abzug, Shirley Chisholm and Betty Friedan, and later founded the Ms. Foundation for Women and the Women’s Media Center. In 2013 President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom. She married David Bale in 2000; he died three years later. Steinem continued public appearances and writing into her nineties, including a 2026 picture book with Leymah Gbowee. Foundation statements noted she hosted “talking circles” at her home and was preparing a memoir at the time of her death. Tributes from writers and activists appeared on social media within hours, many citing her emphasis on listening and in-person organizing.