Novel compounds for the inhibition of sex steroid activity for the treatment of both androgen-related and estrogen-related diseases include for example 15- and 16-halo substituted compounds such as: ##STR1## The compounds are characterized by an estrogenic nucleus substituted with a substituent of the formula --R.sup.1 [B--R.sup.2 --].sub.x L--G wherein at least one of n and G is a polar moiety distanced from a ring carbon of the estrogenic nucleus by at least three intervening atoms: x is an integer from 0--6; R.sup.1 and R.sup.2 are independently either absent or selected from the group consisting of straight- or branched-chain alkylene, straight- or branched-chain alkynylene, straight- or branched-chain alkenylene, phenylene, and fluoro-substituted analogs of the foregoing; and B is either absent or selected from the group consisting of --O-- --Se--, --SO--, --SO.sub.2 --, --NR.sup.3 --, --SiR.sup.3.sub.2, --CR.sup.3 OR.sup.3 --, NR.sup.3 CO--, NR.sup.3 CS--, --CONR.sup.3 --, CSNR.sup.3 --, --COO--, --COS--, --SCO--, --CSS--, --SCS--, --OCO-- and phenylene (R.sup.3 being hydrogen or lower alkyl).