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 epi-
demic. 
Whereas Pedro Zamora was an internationally renowned edu-
cator 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 extra-
curricular activities, becoming an honor student, presi-
dent 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 inse-
curity that he felt as a gay youth of color; 
Whereas unbeknown to Pedro, the first Surgeon General’s re-
port on HIV/AIDS was issued to the public in 1986, 
around the same time that Zamora began having unpro-
tected intercourse; 
Whereas the 1986 report stated that comprehensive sex edu-
cation 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 relation-
ships 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 dis-
proportionate 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 with-
in his Miami school stigmatized HIV/AIDS, portrayed 
homosexuality as shameful, and failed to provide him and 
other students with a relevant, factual, and thorough un-
derstanding of HIV/AIDS and healthy relationships; 
Whereas Pedro Zamora joined a Miami-based HIV/AIDS re-
source 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 com-
bating 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 ca-
reer in AIDS education and advocacy; 
Whereas Pedro Zamora began raising awareness about HIV/ 
AIDS in his local community in South Florida, and espe-
cially 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 evi-
dence-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 ex-
changed 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 Congres-
sional 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 com-
promised 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, mono- 
therapies 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 Gen-
eral 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 admis-
sion 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 an-
nounced 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 fellow-
ships 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 writ-
ten by Dustin Lance Black, dramatizes the life and leg-
acy of Pedro Zamora: Now, therefore, be it 
Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 
(1) honors the life, legacy, and memory of 
Pedro Pablo Zamora y Dı´az, an extraordinary edu-
cator and activist, and a pioneer in the battle 
against the HIV/AIDS epidemic; 
(2) supports current and emerging educators 
and activists, especially those of color and who are 
multilingual, who adhere to a comprehensive sex 
education agenda that is rooted in empirical and sci-
entific evidence, is culturally competent, and pro-
motes the tolerance of sexual orientation and the 
destigmatization of HIV/AIDS; 
(3) addresses the high rates of uninsured and 
underinsured, lack of education, cultural factors, and 
lack of knowledge about status that results in less 
than 30 percent of HIV-infected persons in the 
United States receiving life-saving antiretroviral 
drugs leading to premature death, disability, and 
heightened transmissibility of infection, particularly 
among Blacks and Latinos; 
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(4) commits to supporting prevention and treat-
ment facilities and programs in areas and States 
that have historically and are presently experiencing 
high rates of HIV/AIDS infections and have high 
uninsured rates, such as New York, California, the 
rural Deep South, and South Florida; 
(5) commits to adequately supporting emerging 
and existing programs at the Federal, State, and 
local levels that address the disproportionate effect 
of HIV/AIDS on communities of color, particularly 
young Black and Latino men who have sex with men 
(MSM); and 
(6) commits to investing in programs and ini-
tiatives that are dedicated to providing LGBT per-
sons, especially those of color, with the necessary 
support, resources, and tools to ensure that the civil 
rights, dignity, and health of LGBT persons are pro-
tected. 
Æ 
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