Gloria Steinem, the journalist, author, and activist who became one of the defining voices of the American women’s movement, has died at the age of 92. Steinem died peacefully at her home in New York City on Wednesday, September 2, 2026, surrounded by people close to her, according to a statement released through her foundation and social media accounts. A cause of death was not disclosed.
For more than six decades, Steinem was associated with the fight for gender equality, reproductive rights and greater political representation for women. She co-founded Ms. magazine, helped establish the National Women’s Political Caucus and several other advocacy organizations, and received the Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Barack Obama in 2013. Her death came shortly before the planned publication of another memoir in the fall of 2026.
Away from the public campaigns that made her internationally known, Steinem followed a personal path that often challenged expectations placed on women of her generation. She did not marry until the age of 66 and never had biological children.
Her only husband was environmental and animal-rights activist David Bale, the father of actor Christian Bale. Steinem’s childhood, meanwhile, was shaped by a frequently absent father, a mother who struggled with serious mental health problems and an older sister who later helped the family through a difficult period.
Her religious background was similarly mixed: she had Jewish ancestry through her father and Protestant roots through her mother, but as an adult she described herself in humanist rather than traditionally religious terms.
Gloria Steinem Married Husband David Bale at Age 66
Bale was the first and only husband of Gloria Steinem. The couple met in Los Angeles in October 1999 at a benefit connected with Voters for Choice, a political action committee that Steinem helped establish.
Less than a year later, on September 3, 2000, they married at the Oklahoma home of Steinem’s longtime friend Wilma Mankiller, the former Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Their small wedding incorporated both civil and Cherokee elements.
The marriage attracted considerable attention because Steinem had spent decades questioning the unequal legal and social structures historically attached to marriage. She did not view her decision as a retreat from those beliefs. Announcing the wedding, she said, “Though I’ve worked many years to make marriage more equal, I never expected to take advantage of it myself.”
Years later, Steinem explained that the practical circumstances also mattered. Bale, who had been born in South Africa and held a British passport, faced an immigration issue after the type of U.S. visa he had relied upon was eliminated. Steinem said they already loved each other and wanted to remain together, and by then she believed decades of legal reform had made marriage considerably more equal for women.
Bale had a varied life of his own. Born in South Africa and raised largely in England, he had worked as a commercial pilot and businessman before becoming deeply involved in environmental and animal-welfare causes. He served on the boards of organizations including the Dian Fossey Gorilla Fund International, World Education and the Ark Trust. He was also known for his opposition to apartheid in South Africa.
Bale was comfortable being married to one of the world’s best-known feminist activists. During a television interview with Barbara Walters, he joked, “I actually sometimes introduce myself as Mr. Steinem.”
Their marriage, however, was short. Bale developed brain lymphoma and died on December 30, 2003, at a health care center in Santa Monica, California. He was 62. After his death, Steinem described him as a man with extraordinary empathy, saying, “He had the greatest heart of anyone I’ve ever known.”
Steinem never remarried.
Did Gloria Steinem Have Children?
Steinem had no biological children, a fact that was consistent with the choices she made about motherhood and the independence she sought throughout her adult life. The Associated Press noted following her death that she had remained child-free by choice.
Marriage to David Bale nevertheless brought Steinem into a large family. Bale was already the father of four adult children: Erin Kreunen, Louise Bale, Sharon Bale and Christian Bale. His son Christian became an Academy Award-winning actor known for films including American Psycho, Christopher Nolan’s Dark Knight trilogy and The Fighter.
Steinem therefore became stepmother to four adults when she married Bale. Recalling her husband’s final illness years later, she spoke warmly about his children being present during that difficult period, while also describing the different role she had as his partner and contemporary.
Her Family Background and Parents
Gloria Marie Steinem was born on March 25, 1934, in Toledo, Ohio, the younger daughter of Leo Steinem and Ruth Nuneviller Steinem. Her older sister, Susanne, was born several years before her.
Her father, Leo, made his living partly by buying and selling antiques and kept the family moving for much of Steinem’s early childhood. They frequently traveled around the country in a trailer during the colder months, while summers were spent in Michigan, where Leo operated an entertainment venue. The unconventional lifestyle meant Gloria did not attend school consistently during her earliest years.
Steinem remembered her father with affection despite his unsettled lifestyle. Speaking about him decades later, she described Leo as kind, loving, and funny, while acknowledging that remaining in one place was not part of his nature. His constant movement later influenced the title and theme of her 2015 memoir, My Life on the Road.
Her mother, Ruth, had worked as a journalist before experiencing severe and long-lasting mental health problems. After Steinem’s parents separated and divorced during her childhood, Gloria remained in Toledo with her mother and assumed significant caregiving responsibilities while she was still young. Her older sister eventually helped care for Ruth, allowing Gloria to continue her education.
What Was Steinem’s Religion?
She came from a family with both Jewish and Christian backgrounds, but she did not practice a conventional religion as an adult.
Her father, Leo Steinem, was Jewish, with family roots in Germany and Poland. Her mother, Ruth, came from a Protestant background and was associated with Presbyterianism and Theosophical ideas. That combination meant Steinem grew up around more than one religious and philosophical tradition rather than within a strongly observant household.
Steinem nevertheless acknowledged the importance of her Jewish ancestry, particularly in relation to antisemitism, while approaching organized religion critically. Her views became clearer over the years as she spoke about the relationship between religion, political authority and the treatment of women.
In a 2012 interview after being named Humanist of the Year by the American Humanist Association, Steinem was asked directly whether she believed in God. Her answer was simple: “No. I believe in people. I believe in nature.” She said she regarded humanism positively because it expressed faith in human potential rather than requiring adherence to a supernatural belief system.
