Gloria Steinem, one of the most influential figures in modern American feminism, has died aged 92, closing a chapter of activism that stretched across more than half a century.
Her foundation confirmed her death, according to Reuters. Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine, helped establish major women’s organisations and became one of the most recognisable voices of the modern feminist movement. She received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from Barack Obama in 2013.
For LGBTQ+ people, however, her legacy deserves something more interesting than either uncomplicated sainthood or retrospective cancellation.
Because it contains both solidarity and mistakes.
Standing with gay and lesbian people when it wasn’t fashionable
Lambda Legal, marking Steinem’s death, recalled her support for the LGBTQ+ community at moments when doing so carried considerably more political risk than it does today.
She opposed Anita Bryant’s infamous campaign against gay rights and publicly argued that feminism and LGBTQ+ liberation shared common political opponents. Lambda Legal also credited her with treating lesbian identity as an integral part of feminist equality rather than something that should be pushed quietly to the side.
That support matters historically.
The relationship between organised feminism and lesbian communities was not always straightforward, particularly during the formative decades of second-wave feminism. Choosing solidarity was consequential.
But Steinem’s record on transgender people was more complicated.
The uncomfortable part of the legacy matters too
Lambda Legal explicitly acknowledged that some of Steinem’s early writings about transgender people caused real harm and were rightly challenged. The organisation also framed that history as part of an evolution in her activism.
There is something valuable in refusing to erase either half of that story.
We increasingly expect public figures to emerge fully formed on the correct side of every issue. History rarely works like that. Movements learn. Language changes. People are challenged. Sometimes they listen; sometimes they don’t.
The useful question is not whether an ally has ever been wrong.
It is what they do after they discover they were.
An imperfect ally can still leave lessons behind
Steinem’s death arrives at a moment when feminism and LGBTQ+ rights are once again being forced into uncomfortable political conversations — particularly around transgender equality.
Her life offers no simple template. But perhaps it offers something more realistic: solidarity is not a badge awarded permanently after saying the right thing once. It is an ongoing process that should include the ability to listen, reconsider and change.
The queer community does not need flawless historical heroes.
We need histories told honestly enough to learn from them.
Gloria Steinem stood beside LGBTQ+ people at important moments. She also got things wrong. Both are part of the record.
And remembering both may be a more respectful tribute than pretending either never happened.
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