Love is Greater than AIDS

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. 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. The late Pieters (1952-2023) meticulously recounts his tumultuous life as a gay pastor and AIDS activist during the height of the 1980s crisis and beyond. Pieters grew up performing in musicals and felt most at home onstage, where his 'exhilaration... countered the shame I felt about being a homosexual.' After college he looked for acting work until he was seized by a sudden calling to minister to the LGBTQ community. Shortly after moving to Los Angeles in 1982, he was diagnosed with what was then called GRID (Gay-related Immune Deficiency) and later with lymphoma. Told he wouldn't survive for more than a year, Pieters was given the drug Suramin as part of a 90-person experimental trial. (All of the test subjects, except for Pieters and one other, eventually died of AIDS.) Among other subjects, he poignantly describes how he dealt with the ravages of his illness while ministering to other sufferers; threw himself into AIDS activism; and was interviewed by televangelist Tammy Faye Bakker in a landmark 1985 conversation that 'changed the dynamic between conservative Christians and the LGBTQ community.' ... Pieters' extraordinary achievements enrich the narrative without overshadowing his reflections on his survivor's guilt and self-destructive tendencies. It's a worthy rendering of an uncommon life. 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. 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. 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. 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.