IV 

111TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION H. RES. 308 

Honoring the life, legacy, and memory of Pedro Pablo Zamora y Diaz, 

an extraordinary educator and activist, and a pioneer in the battle 

against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MARCH 31, 2009 

Mr. HASTINGS of Florida (for himself, Ms. ROS-LEHTINEN, Mr. FRANK of 

Massachusetts, Mrs. CHRISTENSEN, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. MEEKS of New 

York, Mr. POLIS of Colorado, Ms. WATSON, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. BALDWIN, 

Ms. MOORE of Wisconsin, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Ms. CORRINE BROWN of 

Florida, and Ms. LEE of California) submitted the following resolution; 

which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce 

RESOLUTION 

Honoring the life, legacy, and memory of Pedro Pablo 

Zamora y Diaz, an extraordinary educator and activist, 

and a pioneer in the battle against the HIV/AIDS epidemic. 

Whereas Pedro Zamora was an internationally renowned educator and activist whose courage, selflessness, and zest 

for life inspired a generation of Americans to confront 

their fears, misconceptions, and ignorance about HIV/ 

AIDS and the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender 

(LGBT) community; 


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Whereas Pedro Pablo Zamora y Dı ́az was born on February 

29, 1972, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, and was the 

youngest of Hector and Zoraida Zamora’s eight children; 

Whereas government officials forced the Zamora family to 

leave Pedro’s four older brothers and older sister in Cuba 

when the Zamora’s boarded a crowded boat to the United 

States on May 30, 1980; 

Whereas by October 1980, 125,000 Cubans had made the 

journey to Florida in what became known as the Mariel 

Boat Lift; 

Whereas despite the pain of separation, the Zamora family 

started a new life in Hialeah, Florida; 

Whereas the Zamora family was struck by tragedy five years 

later when Pedro’s mother died from skin cancer when he 

was 13 years old; 

Whereas in order to deal with the loss of his mother, Pedro 

Zamora immersed himself in academics and extracurricular activities, becoming an honor student, president of the science club, and captain of the cross-country 

team, and was voted ‘‘most intellectual’’ and ‘‘most all 

around’’ at Hialeah High School; 

Whereas Pedro began having unprotected sex with multiple 

men at the age of 14 in an attempt to fill the void that 

was left by his mother’s death, and to cope with the insecurity that he felt as a gay youth of color; 

Whereas unbeknown to Pedro, the first Surgeon General’s report on HIV/AIDS was issued to the public in 1986, 

around the same time that Zamora began having unprotected intercourse; 

Whereas the 1986 report stated that comprehensive sex education was one of the most powerful weapons against the 


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emerging epidemic, and that education should begin at 

the lowest grade possible to provide scientifically accurate 

information about heterosexual and homosexual relationships and about preventing HIV/AIDS and other sexually 

transmitted infections; 

Whereas the 1986 Surgeon General report estimated that 

HIV/AIDS had claimed more than 15,000 lives in the 

United States; 

Whereas the report acknowledged that HIV/AIDS had a disproportionate effect among Latinos and Blacks, with 80 

percent of all pediatric HIV/AIDS cases occurring in 

Latino and Black children; 

Whereas Pedro Zamora donated blood at a Red Cross blood 

drive during his junior year of high school and received 

notice that his blood had tested ‘‘reactive’’; 

Whereas, six months later, on November 9, 1989, at the age 

of 17, Pedro Zamora received confirmation that he had 

contracted the HIV virus; 

Whereas the sex education that Pedro Zamora received within his Miami school stigmatized HIV/AIDS, portrayed 

homosexuality as shameful, and failed to provide him and 

other students with a relevant, factual, and thorough understanding of HIV/AIDS and healthy relationships; 

Whereas Pedro Zamora joined a Miami-based HIV/AIDS resource center called Body Positive where he met others 

with HIV/AIDS, educated himself about HIV/AIDS, and 

discovered a desire to share his newfound vision for combating ignorance about the disease; 

Whereas despite his many academic accomplishments and his 

initial desire to go into medicine, Pedro Zamora chose to 


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devote his talents as a thinker and communicator to a career in AIDS education and advocacy; 

Whereas Pedro Zamora began raising awareness about HIV/ 

AIDS in his local community in South Florida, and especially within the Latino community; 

Whereas after graduating from high school in 1990, Pedro 

began to lecture at schools from the primary to collegial 

level, churches, community centers, and other venues 

around the country, and talked about the need for evidence-based education for preventing and managing HIV/ 

AIDS, forming healthy relationships, de-stigmatizing 

HIV/AIDS, and eradicating homophobia; 

Whereas in mid-1993, Pedro Zamora sent his audition tape 

to the producers of MTV’s ‘‘The Real World’’, and was 

chosen out of more than 25,000 applicants, to live in 

front of the camera with six other cast-mates in San 

Francisco for more than four months; 

Whereas in 1994, Pedro Zamora’s historic appearance as one 

of the first openly gay men of color living with HIV/ 

AIDS on MTV’s reality television series ‘‘The Real 

World: San Francisco’’ brought international attention to 

the realities of HIV/AIDS and LGBT issues; 

Whereas Pedro Zamora became close friends with fellow 

housemate Judd Winick, who would later continue 

Zamora’s work by sharing his story and speaking about 

HIV/AIDS at schools and other venues; 

Whereas Pedro Zamora met his future partner, Sean Sasser, 

during the filming of ‘‘The Real World’’, and the two exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony on the show; 


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Whereas Eric Morgenthaler of The Wall Street Journal wrote 

a series of articles about Pedro Zamora and his AIDS 

education efforts, bringing him to national prominence; 

Whereas Pedro Zamora also appeared on such television 

shows as ‘‘Geraldo’’ and ‘‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’’; 

Whereas, on November 1, 1993, Pedro Zamora spoke about 

living with AIDS at a Capitol Hill reception; 

Whereas, on July 12, 1994, Pedro testified during a Congressional hearing on AIDS prevention and said, ‘‘What we 

need is the collective will to care about young people and 

about people with different backgrounds and make sure 

that one day people grow up in a world without AIDS.’’; 

Whereas in 1994, President Bill Clinton and then-Secretary 

of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala personally 

recognized and thanked Pedro Zamora for his leadership 

and work on the AIDS Action Council Board and for 

humanizing and personalizing those living with HIV/ 

AIDS; 

Whereas, on August 17, 1994, Pedro Zamora checked into 

St. Vincent’s Hospital in New York City with diagnosed 

toxoplasmosis, a condition which causes brain lesions that 

result in fatigue, headaches, and confusion; 

Whereas this condition resulted because of a severely compromised immune system; 

Whereas although the revolutionary antiretroviral cocktails 

that improve the length and quality of life of persons 

with HIV/AIDS were not available until 1996, monotherapies and medical treatments for symptoms were still 

available to HIV/AIDS patients who could pay for care; 

Whereas Pedro, like many young people, was uninsured and 

could not finance this care; 


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Whereas Pedro Zamora was diagnosed with progressive 

multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML), a rare and fatal 

viral inflammation of the brain that breaks down the 

electrical impulses of the nervous system; 

Whereas, at the age of 22, Pedro Zamora was given three to 

four months to live; 

Whereas with the help of President Bill Clinton, a Zamora 

family friend Alonso R. del Portillo, then-Attorney General Janet Reno, then-Secretary of Health and Human 

Services Donna Shalala, and Florida Congresswoman 

Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, an agreement was reached between 

the United States and Cuba that would allow the admission of 20,000 Cubans per year, including Pedro 

Zamora’s older brothers and older sister, reuniting the 

family for the first time in 15 years; 

Whereas, on October 21, 1994, Pedro’s closest friends announced that MTV created the Pedro Zamora Memorial 

Fund in order to pay for his medical costs and finance 

further AIDS research and education projects; 

Whereas, on November 11, 1994, Pedro Zamora’s family 

honored his wish to not be sustained by artificial means, 

and withdrew life support; 

Whereas surrounded by his family, friends, and partner Sean 

Sasser, Pedro Zamora died on November 11, 1994, at 

4:40 a.m., the day after the final episode of ‘‘The Real 

World: San Francisco’’ aired; 

Whereas Pedro Zamora was buried on November 13, 1994, 

at Vista Memorial Gardens in Miami Lakes, Florida; 

Whereas several Pedro Zamora memorial funds and fellowships have since been established around the country to 


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continue his mission of breaking down the barriers of 

race and sexuality to raise HIV/AIDS awareness; and 

Whereas ‘‘Pedro’’, a movie directed by Nick Oceano and written by Dustin Lance Black, dramatizes the life and legacy of Pedro Zamora: Now, therefore, be it 

1 Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 

2 (1) honors the life, legacy, and memory of 

3 Pedro Pablo Zamora y Dı ́az, an extraordinary edu4 cator and activist, and a pioneer in the battle 

5 against the HIV/AIDS epidemic; 

6 (2) supports current and emerging educators 

7 and activists, especially those of color and who are 

8 multilingual, who adhere to a comprehensive sex 

9 education agenda that is rooted in empirical and sci10 entific evidence, is culturally competent, and pro11 motes the tolerance of sexual orientation and the 

12 destigmatization of HIV/AIDS; 

13 (3) addresses the high rates of uninsured and 

14 underinsured, lack of education, cultural factors, and 

15 lack of knowledge about status that results in less 

16 than 30 percent of HIV-infected persons in the 

17 United States receiving life-saving antiretroviral 

18 drugs leading to premature death, disability, and 

19 heightened transmissibility of infection, particularly 

20 among Blacks and Latinos; 


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1 (4) commits to supporting prevention and treat2 ment facilities and programs in areas and States 

3 that have historically and are presently experiencing 

4 high rates of HIV/AIDS infections and have high 

5 uninsured rates, such as New York, California, the 

6 rural Deep South, and South Florida; 

7 (5) commits to adequately supporting emerging 

8 and existing programs at the Federal, State, and 

9 local levels that address the disproportionate effect 

10 of HIV/AIDS on communities of color, particularly 

11 young Black and Latino men who have sex with men 

12 (MSM); and 

13 (6) commits to investing in programs and ini14 tiatives that are dedicated to providing LGBT per15 sons, especially those of color, with the necessary 

16 support, resources, and tools to ensure that the civil 

17 rights, dignity, and health of LGBT persons are pro18 tected. 

Æ 


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