Love is Greater than AIDS: A Memoir of Survival, Healing, and Hope

by Rev. A. Stephen Pieters

Overview

Love is Greater than AIDS: A Memoir of Survival, Healing, and Hope is Rev. A. Stephen Pieter’s inspiring story of surviving AIDS and the notorious Suramin antiviral drug trial to lead a life of ministry, celebrity, LGBTQ+ and AIDS activism, and hope.

The story begins with Pieters’ 1985 interview with Tammy Faye Bakker on her TV show, Tammy’s House Party, which made him a national celebrity and spokesperson for the AIDS community.

He reflects on his childhood and college years, leading up to his coming out story. Soon after, he responds to a call to the ministry by attending seminary and then serving in Metropolitan Community Churches, a primarily LGBTQ+ denomination.

In the late 1970s, Pieters became the gay activist pastor of the Metropolitan Community Church of Hartford, Connecticut. There he helped settle gay Cuban refugees from the Mariel boat lift, and aided police investigations of the murders of two gay men.

Moving to Los Angeles in 1982, Steve then experienced a long series of illnesses that led to his diagnosis with stage four lymphoma, Kaposi’s sarcoma, and AIDS in 1984. He was not expected to survive, but he defied his prognosis and became a well-known AIDS activist, participating in several AIDS organizations in Los Angeles and across the country. He spoke on behalf of people living with AIDS at both the first AIDS Walk in the world, and at Elizabeth Taylor’s Commitment to Life event, the first film and television industry fundraiser for AIDS. He also become Patient Number One on Suramin, the first antiviral drug trial to treat HIV/AIDS. Although his cancers go into complete remission, the drug very nearly kills him. Steve is one of only two survivors of that notorious drug trial.

Having fully recovered from AIDS by 1987, Steve made AIDS ministry his life. For the next eleven years he traveled the world, preaching and teaching about AIDS and giving hope and joy in the face of all the hopelessness and grief. Knowing what it’s like to be on a death bed, he volunteered as a chaplain at the Chris Brownlie AIDS Hospice, where he discovered his gift for helping people heal into their deaths.

Thanks to advances in treatment, HIV disease became a manageable condition in 1997. Realizing he was burned out on ministry, and with AIDS social services agencies all downsizing, Pieters began to work for, of all places, Playboy, becoming close friends with Christie Hefner He then describes how the stress and grief of the AIDS years manifested itself in addiction issues. After he began to recover, he had a brief career as a psychotherapist. He experienced brushes with death in 2012, describing how dancing in the spirit and singing with the Gay Men’s Chorus of Los Angeles helped him stay alive through it all.

In the years that followed, the Smithsonian National Museum of American History invited Pieters to donate his AIDS ministry artifacts and papers.

The 2021 feature film, The Eyes of Tammy Faye, starring Academy-Award winner Jessica Chastain, includes part of Steve’s 1985 interview with Tammy Faye Baker, a pivotal turning point in the movie, brings his memoir full circle. His remarkable life, which ended in 2023 at the age of 70, is proof that love is indeed greater than AIDS.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781538186572
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	04/02/2024
Pages:	282
Sales rank:	408,221
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 8.90(h) x 0.90(d)

About the Author

Deceased

Read an Excerpt

Excerpt © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Excerpt from part of Chapter 2: But Do I Have AIDS?

Easter Sunday arrived. Many in the congregation had seen Ken pray over me the Sunday before, a few days after my diagnosis. The rest heard about my illness through the grapevine, so I imagined they were as nervous as I was about what I could possibly say in an Easter sermon. I stood at the pulpit and started to read my notes out loud, but I didn’t get very far. With that same clarity I had experienced before, I knew what I had to do.

I threw my notes in the air, looked directly at the folks in front of me, and said, “I don’t need these. I know exactly what I want to say.” People laughed, and the tension was released.

With more conviction than I had ever preached before, I shouted, “Jesus Christ is risen today! Hallelujah!” I shared my lymphoma diagnosis and prognosis with the congregation. Even though I was not yet diagnosed with AIDS, several people had told me they were afraid that was coming for me. The fear of AIDS had such a powerful grip on so many people. So, I preached, “If God is greater than the death of Jesus on the cross, then God is greater than AIDS.” The congregation gasped, but then I could see many people start to understand.

I continued, “Our Easter faith tells me that even though they told me the worst news they could possibly tell me, I can still dance!” And I did a tap dance right there in front of the altar. The congregation cheered. “It means I can still laugh, I can still enjoy my friends, I can still be fully alive, even in the face of death!” When I finished the sermon, the congregation rose, applauding and cheering.

When it came time for Communion, I didn’t think people would come to receive it from me because of the fear I might have AIDS. But many did come. It was extraordinarily meaningful to me that these folks were not afraid to have me put the wafer on their tongue. I couldn’t help but remember Jeri, the deacon who, just the year before, was too frightened to place the wafer on my tongue herself.

After the service, I got a lot of hugs. A few people held back, one bluntly telling me he was afraid to shake my hand. I was riding so high on my own Easter joy that it didn’t upset me. That Easter was a day of grace that empowered me to be fully alive even as I faced the very real possibility of an imminent death.

Table of Contents

Prologue: How Did I Ever Get to This?

Chapter 1: Out at Last and Called by God

Chapter 2: But Do I Have AIDS?

Chapter 3: Creating Conditions for Healing

Chapter 4: A Drug Trial and a Partner

Chapter 5: A Renewed Commitment to Life

Chapter 6: Building an International AIDS Ministry

Chapter 7: Into the Spotlight

Chapter 8: A Cocktail Changes Everything

Chapter 9: Return to the Land of the Sick

Chapter 10: Back to Life

Epilogue: Bright Lights and a New Challenge

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

About the Author

Editorial Reviews

What a unique, inspiring, and amazing story Steve has to share, but his life has always been about sharing and taking any circumstance and finding the gift hidden inside. It is said: to those who are given much, much will be expected. Steve was given much in the way of challenges but always looked at the greater picture. His faith was stalwart and those who were lucky enough to be his friend are forever changed by him. When you read his story, you too will be changed.

Michael Feinstein Michael Feinstein

What a story! Steve Peters lived through several pandemics, and lived to tell us what it was like, being a member of the clergy, and his journey of having to educate millions of people of his journey, through the horrors of HIV/AIDS. He was the first person ever invited by the religious right, much to their chagrin, to defend his faith on an international TV program. I cannot do justice to Steve’s book—such an incredible story of surviving and faith.

Rev. Troy D. Perry

With heart-rending candor, Steve Pieters shares his own struggles with homophobia, AIDS and addiction. Yet this most personal of stories also reflects the journey of many, many Americans, and indeed of the country itself. And ultimately it is a story of faith and survival, both deeply moving and tremendously uplifting. For those of us fortunate enough to have shared Steve’s journey, we know he is now tap dancing with the angels.

Christine Hefner

Of Steve Pieters, a better poet John Donne, in his Holy Sonnets said it best: "I am thy sonne, made with thy selfe to shine / Thy servant." Not even the devil AIDS could stop this son from serving, from shining.

David M. Perkins

In this powerful memoir Steve Pieters reflects on his decades on the frontline of the war on AIDS, and the PTSD that any war can trigger. Yet, his hopeful and joyful approach to life shines brightly throughout, just as it did when we first met in seminary so many years ago.

Donna Weddle

What can you say about a guy who donated his fairy wand to the Smithsonian Museum? Prepare to meet my friend Steve Pieters, one of the most unusual and fascinating people I’ve ever known. Mark Twain said, 'The fear of death follows from the fear of life. A man who lives fully is prepared to die at any time.' Steve Pieters definitely did not fear death. Or much of anything else. As a result, he was able to live more fully than almost any human being I’ve ever met. His life was all about overcoming fear – fear of being gay, fear of being his authentic self, fear of being alone, fear of rejection, fear of getting sick, fear of confronting reality without drugs or alcohol—and he overcame every single one of these fears, one after the other. He embraced God and other humans fully with love and joy and without judgement and in so doing, finally learned to embrace himself. And what started out for him as simply a basic struggle to fight death, turned in to a crazy celebrity studded adventure of life. He finally learned that the words he told Tammy Faye were true for him as well: 'God loves you—just the way you are.' I think you’ll come to love my friend Steve too, just as much as I did.

Alison Arngrim

What a unique, inspiring, and amazing story Steve has to share, but his life has always been about sharing and taking any circumstance and finding the gift hidden inside. It is said: to those who are given much, much will be expected. Steve was given much in the way of challenges but always looked at the greater picture. His faith was stalwart and those who were lucky enough to be his friend are forever changed by him. When you read his story, you too will be changed.

Michael Feinstein