Gloria Steinem’s Evolving Feminism Leaves a Legacy for LGBTQ+ Readers

Gloria Steinem, the journalist and feminist organizer who died September 3, 2026, leaves behind a legacy that reaches well beyond the women’s movement. For readers of Seattle Gay News, her life offers both a record of influential activism and an example of why movements must remain open to learning, accountability, and change.

Steinem became a prominent writer during the 1960s, after struggling to be taken seriously in a publishing industry dominated by men. Her investigative work included an undercover report on the treatment of women connected to Hugh Hefner’s Playboy empire. When editors continued steering her toward lighter assignments, she pursued social-justice reporting instead. Her 1969 article about Black Power and women’s liberation helped establish her as a leading voice in second-wave feminism.

In 1972, Steinem helped establish Ms., a magazine owned and operated by women. The publication created space for feminist writers and organizers who were often shut out of mainstream media. Steinem also became a prominent advocate for abortion access and reproductive freedom, speaking publicly about her own abortion and campaigning against restrictions on reproductive health care.

Her relationship with queer communities was significant, though not without complexity. Steinem supported gay and lesbian rights, traveled to Florida in 1977 to oppose Anita Bryant’s campaign against local nondiscrimination protections, and challenged efforts to exclude lesbians from feminist organizing. She also expressed admiration for lesbian identity at a time when many public figures avoided such discussions.

Steinem’s record on transgender rights changed substantially. Earlier in her career, she argued against transgender inclusion in sports and opposed medical transition. In 2013, she acknowledged that those positions had caused harm and said her understanding had developed. She subsequently affirmed that transgender people live authentic lives and that decisions about their health care belong to them. In later years, she described feminist and transgender-rights movements as closely connected, criticized federal attacks on transgender health care, and endorsed public support for trans women and girls.

That evolution is an important part of how her legacy should be understood. Steinem was celebrated for challenging systems that limited women, but she also became an example of a public figure revisiting earlier beliefs rather than treating them as permanent. Her life included major advances, including new antidiscrimination protections and Title IX, as well as serious reversals such as the U.S. Supreme Court’s 2022 decision overturning the constitutional right to abortion.

For Seattle’s LGBTQ+ community and for the newspaper that has served it since 1974, Steinem’s story underscores the value of independent journalism, coalition-building, and a movement broad enough to include people across gender and sexual identities.

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