Outward: Slate's LGBTQ podcast - 5: Healing Without a Cure | When We All Get to Heaven

Nov 5, 2025

Rev. Ron Russell Coons, a Metropolitan Community Church minister, shares his powerful narrative about living with AIDS and redefining healing. He reflects on the meaning of healing when survival isn't an option, emphasizing the importance of connection with both biological and chosen family. His brother, Daryl Coons, provides insights into their family dynamics, shedding light on conflict and acceptance during Ron's illness. Together, they explore spirituality, forgiveness, and finding peace even amidst decline, revealing how love transcends life's challenges.

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INSIGHT

Ministry Made AIDS Visible

Ron's visible ministry with AIDS forced mainstream churches to confront the epidemic directly.
His presence made the need for compassionate, realistic pastoral care impossible to ignore.

INSIGHT

Healing Reframed As Inner Peace

Ron reframed healing as inner peace and self-forgiveness rather than bodily change.
He asked loved ones to thank God for the healing he already experienced, not to demand orientation change.

ADVICE

Don't Make The Dying Prove Your Faith

Avoid forcing dying people into being proofs for a theology or therapy approach.
Let patients define meaningful healing instead of demanding they validate others' beliefs.

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When Rev. Ron Russell Coons got diagnosed with AIDS he thought a lot about what healing meant when death was certain. He pursued it in his strained and broken family relationships and he preached about it from the pulpit. Though he knew, without a doubt, that he would die from AIDS, Ron claimed that he believed in and had experienced healing. What does healing mean when everybody knows it can’t mean survival? Maybe healing is one’s biological family and queer kin showing up and reaching for connection across those fractures.

For images and links about this episode visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/episode-5.

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When We All Get to Heaven is produced by Eureka Street Productions. It is co-created by Lynne Gerber, Siri Colom, and Ariana Nedelman. Our story editor is Sayre Quevedo. Our sound designer is David Herman. Our managing producer is Krissy Clark. Tim Dillinger is our consulting producer and Betsy Towner Levine is our fact-checker. We had additional story editing help from Sarah Ventre, Arwen Nicks, Allison Behringer, and Krissy Clark. For a complete list of credits, please visit https://www.heavenpodcast.org/credits.

This project received generous support from individual donors, the Henry Luce Foundation (www.hluce.org), the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, and California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities (www.CalHum.org).

Eureka Street Productions has 501c3 status through our fiscal sponsor FJC: A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds.

The music for this episode is from the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco’s archive. It was performed by MCC-SF’s musicians and members with Bob Crocker and Jack Hoggatt-St.John as music directors. Additional music is by Domestic BGM.

“When the Roll is Called Up Yonder” is by James Milton Black.

“Give Me Jesus” is a traditional spiritual arrangement by Charles Ivey. The soloist is Maria Barnet.

“It is Well with My Soul,” also known as “When Peace, Like a River,” is by Horatio Spafford.

Thanks to

Ron’s family for speaking with us on and off the record. We know this was a stretch and we appreciate it.

Dr. Joseph Marchal, for helping us understand Ron’s “We Have AIDS” sermon and the biblical text it was based on. It’ll be a great special episode one day.
Steve Russell for sharing his memories of Ron and his brother, Chuck Russell Coons.
Great thanks, as always, to the members and clergy of the Metropolitan Community Church of San Francisco who made this project possible.

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