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Leading figures from politics, entertainment and wider society led glowing tributes to Gloria Steinem<\/a> on Thursday, with Hillary Clinton hailing the American feminist icon who died at 92<\/a> at home in New York City as \u201cone of the architects of the entire structure of women\u2019s equality\u201d.<\/p>\n Clinton, a former US secretary of state, presidential candidate and first lady, was among the first to jump in with praise early on Thursday when she appeared on the CBS Mornings TV show to share her respect and gratitude for Steinem.<\/p>\n Clinton urged younger generations to use Steinem as a role model in supporting each other in promoting the causes she championed.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m hoping that young women realize that the fight is worth it,\u201d she said. \u201cIt is exhilarating.\u201d<\/p>\n Kamala Harris, the former US vice-president, hailed Steinem as a \u201ctrailblazing activist, organizer, and journalist \u2013 an icon in so many ways\u201d, in a post on X<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cTo know her as a person is to know someone who was kind, sharp, and witty. She was invested in young women and keeping the door open for the next generation of leaders,\u201d Harris wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cI will always be grateful for her encouragement and support in my campaign for the presidency. A campaign that was made possible, in no small part, because of her activism and so many other giants upon whose shoulders we stand.\u201d<\/p>\n Others who eulogized Steinem included Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic former House speaker, who called her \u201ca fearless trailblazer who transformed the fight for equality in America\u201d. Meghan Markle, the Duchess of Sussex, added her voice to call Steinem her \u201cfriend and mentor\u201d, while the music icon Patti Smith referred to her as \u201cthe greatest\u201d.<\/p>\n Broadcaster Oprah Winfrey called Steinem a \u201cformidable reformer who shaped American thought and culture\u201d. And Billie Jean King, the athlete who led the fight for equality for female tennis players, said in a Facebook post<\/a> that \u201cthe world has lost a true giant and a dynamic voice\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cShe lit a torch many years ago. It is now our responsibility to keep it lifted into the future. May she rest in power,\u201d King wrote.<\/p>\n Jill Biden, another former first lady, released a statement in which she said she and former US president Joe Biden \u201care holding Gloria\u2019s loved ones in our hearts\u201d.<\/p>\n Biden wrote: \u201cGloria Steinem understood that women\u2019s equality begins with the freedom to make decisions about our own bodies, health, and futures. For decades, she fought to make that freedom real for generations of women and girls.<\/p>\n \u201cShe spoke up when it was difficult, listened to those whose voices too often went unheard, and never stopped pushing our country forward. Her voice changed our country, and her courage will continue to inspire us to keep fighting for the freedoms she spent her life defending.\u201d<\/p>\n Steinem had supported Hillary Clinton<\/a>\u2019s 2016 presidential campaign as the Democratic nominee running against Republican Donald Trump, which was ultimately unsuccessful as Trump prevailed in an election that would have given the United States its first female president. Clinton said on Thursday she was \u201cheartsick\u201d at news of the death of her feminist friend and ally.<\/p>\n \u201cEveryone who not only knew her but followed her, was inspired and challenged by her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think back to my first awareness of Gloria way back in the 1960s into the 70s, when all of a sudden this incredibly smart, beautiful, talented woman began talking about how women should have equal opportunity, how we should aim for the stars, be able to pursue our own dreams.<\/p>\n \u201cI knew there were, back when I was a young woman, schools that wouldn\u2019t take women, jobs that wouldn\u2019t take women, scholarships that weren\u2019t open to women. I lived it.<\/p>\n \u201cBut the lived experience became much more real and applicable to our entire society when Gloria began to point it out.\u201d<\/p>\n Clinton noted Steinem\u2019s distaste at what politics had become in recent years, and said she had \u201cthe most incredible conversation\u201d with her during a visit to Steinem\u2019s home last year.<\/p>\n \u201cEven though we\u2019re facing some challenges and pushback here in this country and around the world to women\u2019s full participation and equality, Gloria was at heart an optimist,\u201d she said. \u201cHer activism was rooted in optimism, and that\u2019s a moral choice, and she made it every day.\u201d<\/p>\n Pelosi paid tribute in a post on X<\/a> that said: \u201cGloria Steinem was a fearless trailblazer who transformed the fight for equality in America and inspired generations of women to know their power.<\/p>\n \u201cHer voice, courage and relentless advocacy helped break down barriers and open doors once firmly closed to women. May it be a comfort to all of us who loved Gloria that her extraordinary legacy will live on in every generation that carries her fight forward.\u201d<\/p>\n Markle posted her memories on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cCelebrating the life and legacy of my friend and mentor, and also grateful to know that in these last few weeks and days she knew exactly how loved and admired she was,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cMy very favorite story about GLO is when she was out one day in NY, and a woman approached her in absolute awe and said she wanted to introduce her young daughter to her (though she was embarrassed to say the young girl may not know who she was).\u201d<\/p>\n The post continued: \u201cGloria replied: \u2018It doesn\u2019t matter if she knows who I am. What matters is that she knows who SHE is\u2019. Rest in peace, and rest in pride.\u201d<\/p>\n Smith, who shared a similar path to Steinem as a cultural revolutionary icon emerging from New York in the 1960s and 70s, posted a brief tribute on Instagram<\/a>. \u201cThis is the greatest Gloria. All are grateful for her revolutionary spirit; a lifetime of service,\u201d she wrote.<\/p>\n The Oscar-winning actor Julianne Moore played Steinem in the 2020 biopic The Glorias. She said<\/a> on Instagram: \u201cThe time I spent studying Gloria in order to play her was one of the most edifying of my life.<\/p>\n \u201cEverything I watched, everything I read, everything I observed about her gave me a template for how I wanted to behave. Her honesty, her tolerance, her patience, and her insistence on humanism and inclusion as she moved through the world offers us all a moral roadmap.\u201d<\/p>\n Others who paid tribute on Thursday also recalled Steinem\u2019s trailblazing.<\/p>\n \u201cGloria was one of a kind. Genuine, generous, curious, thoughtful. She lived a staggering life and her passing is a staggering loss tempered only by the ferocity of her legacy,\u201d Roxane Gay, the prominent social commentator and author of Bad Feminist, commented on the Instagram post<\/a> announcing Steinem\u2019s death.<\/p>\n