|
Miami, FL United States |
SW 59th St at McMillan Middle School | Pedro Zamora Way |
since 28 February 1995 one name |
Pedro Pablo Zamora (born Pedro Pablo Zamora y Díaz, February 29, 1972 – November 11, 1994) was a Cuban-American AIDS educator and television personality. As one of the first openly gay men with AIDS to be portrayed in popular media, Zamora brought international attention to HIV/AIDS and LGBTQ issues and prejudices through his appearance on MTV's reality television series, The Real World: San Francisco.
Zamora's romantic relationship with Sean Sasser was also documented on the show; their relationship was later nominated by MTV viewers for "Favorite Love Story" award, and the broadcast of their commitment ceremony in 1994, in which they exchanged vows, was the first such same-sex ceremony in television history, and is considered a landmark in the history of the medium.
Pedro Zamora was born in Diezmero, San Miguel del Padrón, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, to Héctor Zamora, a food-warehouse worker, and Zoraida Díaz, a housewife. In 1980, when Zamora was eight, his family left Cuba for the United States during the Mariel boatlift.
In late 1989, in his junior year of high school, 17-year-old Zamora donated blood during a Red Cross blood drive after which he was tested HIV-positive. His family was devastated but remained supportive. Zamora's goal was to graduate from high school before he died, and he did so in 1990.
Zamora soon became a full-time AIDS educator lecturing at schools for all ages, at PTA meetings, and in churches. After a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal he was interviewed in TV talk shows. On July 12, 1993, he testified before the United States Congress, arguing for more explicit HIV/AIDS educational programs, saying, "If you want to reach me as a young man, especially a young gay man of color, then you need to give me information in a language and vocabulary I can understand and relate to."
On the 1993 Lesbian and Gay March on Washington he met Sean Sasser, also an AIDS educator, who would eventually become his partner.
Zamora died on November 11, 1994, at the age of 22, hours after the final episode of The Real World: San Francisco aired. On February 28, 1995, the portion of the street in front of McMillan Middle School in Miami was renamed Pedro Zamora Way.
[Wikipedia]
City of Miami
Zamora's romantic relationship with Sean Sasser was also documented on the show; their relationship was later nominated by MTV viewers for "Favorite Love Story" award, and the broadcast of their commitment ceremony in 1994, in which they exchanged vows, was the first such same-sex ceremony in television history, and is considered a landmark in the history of the medium.
Pedro Zamora was born in Diezmero, San Miguel del Padrón, on the outskirts of Havana, Cuba, to Héctor Zamora, a food-warehouse worker, and Zoraida Díaz, a housewife. In 1980, when Zamora was eight, his family left Cuba for the United States during the Mariel boatlift.
In late 1989, in his junior year of high school, 17-year-old Zamora donated blood during a Red Cross blood drive after which he was tested HIV-positive. His family was devastated but remained supportive. Zamora's goal was to graduate from high school before he died, and he did so in 1990.
Zamora soon became a full-time AIDS educator lecturing at schools for all ages, at PTA meetings, and in churches. After a front-page article in the Wall Street Journal he was interviewed in TV talk shows. On July 12, 1993, he testified before the United States Congress, arguing for more explicit HIV/AIDS educational programs, saying, "If you want to reach me as a young man, especially a young gay man of color, then you need to give me information in a language and vocabulary I can understand and relate to."
On the 1993 Lesbian and Gay March on Washington he met Sean Sasser, also an AIDS educator, who would eventually become his partner.
Zamora died on November 11, 1994, at the age of 22, hours after the final episode of The Real World: San Francisco aired. On February 28, 1995, the portion of the street in front of McMillan Middle School in Miami was renamed Pedro Zamora Way.
[Wikipedia]
City of Miami
