Gloria Steinem, Who Stood With Miami’s LGBTQ+ Rights Fight, Dies at 92

Gloria Steinem, the journalist and feminist organizer whose work helped reshape American conversations about gender and equality, has died at 92. Her death was announced by her social media accounts and foundation, which said she died peacefully at her home in New York City surrounded by loved ones. No cause of death was announced.

For Miami’s LGBTQ+ history, Steinem is remembered as a prominent ally who entered the fight over Dade County’s protections for gay people during a pivotal moment in the modern rights movement.

In 1977, gay activists persuaded Steinem to travel to Miami as Anita Bryant led a campaign to repeal the county’s ordinance barring discrimination against gay people. Bryant, a singer and public figure, became nationally associated with the effort, which brought intense attention to the political and cultural backlash facing LGBTQ+ communities. Steinem’s participation helped connect the local struggle to the broader feminist and civil rights movements.

Later that year, Steinem spoke to the American Association of University Women about the vulnerability of lesbians and the need to treat lesbian identity with dignity. Her public support came as gay and lesbian organizers were building alliances with national advocacy groups and challenging the idea that discrimination against LGBTQ+ people could be treated as a marginal concern.

Steinem’s connection to LGBTQ+ advocacy continued throughout her career. She was an early prominent supporter of the Human Rights Campaign Fund and defended lesbians in the pages of The Advocate. In 1992, she criticized a columnist who argued that feminism had been weakened by including lesbians, saying that position undermined the writer’s credibility on women’s issues.

Her record on transgender rights was more complicated. In a 2013 essay published by The Advocate, Steinem revisited a 1977 piece that had been interpreted by some transgender readers as opposition to transition. She said her earlier writing had been separated from its original context and clarified that she did not oppose transgender people pursuing lives that reflected their identities. She also apologized for language that had suggested otherwise and argued that transgender people should control decisions about their own health care.

Steinem connected transgender rights with broader struggles over health care, harassment and employment discrimination. As Congress considered federal workplace protections, she supported including both sexual orientation and gender identity.

Born in Toledo, Ohio, in 1934, Steinem became one of the most recognizable figures in U.S. feminism. She helped establish New York magazine and co-founded Ms., while also producing reporting on workplace sexism and women’s lives. President Barack Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

Her legacy in Miami includes the moment she stood alongside local LGBTQ+ activists during a campaign that showed how quickly a county-level rights dispute could become a national battle.

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