Bipartisan Support for Commemorating Pedro Zamora

by Michael Jones · 2009-04-02 07:36:00 UTC
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Pedro ZamoraTimed with this week's release of the MTV flick "Pedro," a bipartisan group of U.S. Congress members have introduced a resolution commemorating openly gay HIV/AIDS activist Pedro Zamora.  Zamora, as many remember, was an HIV/AIDS educator and a cast member on the third season of the Real World (all the way back in 1994).  He was dubbed by President Bill Clinton at the time as a figure who humanized and personalized the tragedy of HIV/AIDS in America. (Clinton himself provides an introduction to the MTV movie, where he says "We must remember what Pedro taught us: One person can change the world — and whether or not we are living with HIV or know someone who is, we all have a responsibility as global citizens to do whatever we can. Life is short enough as it is. No one should die from a disease that is both preventable and treatable.")

Zamora died of complications from HIV/AIDS in 1994.

The resolution in Congress was introduced by Rep. Alcee Hastings, and was endorsed by a bipartisan team of lawmakers from the U.S. House.  As Rep. Hastings said in a press release announcing the resolution:

Pedro put a face on this deadly disease that far too often has been hidden in the shadows.  The unfortunate fact remains that HIV/AIDS has become one of the most serious global health concerns in modern history and has spread to every continent, infecting and affecting people across all lines of race, class, religion, and sexual orientation.

For more information on the Congressional resolution to commemorate the life of Pedro Zamora, click here.  For more information on the MTV film "Pedro," (written by "Milk" screenwriter Dustin Lance Black), click here.

Michael Jones is a Change.org Editor. He has worked in the field of human rights communications for a decade, most recently for Harvard Law School.
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