Editing Pedro Zamora (section)

===1989–93: HIV-positive diagnosis and activism===
[[Image:Pedrozamora1993.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Pedro Zamora (left) with Alonso R. del Portillo in 1993]]
In late 1989, in his junior year of high school, 17-year-old Zamora donated blood during a [[Red Cross]] [[blood donation|blood drive]]. A month later, he received a letter from the Red Cross informing him that his blood tested "reactive", though it did not specify for what. Zamora decided to be tested for [[HIV]], and on November 9, 1989, the results confirmed he was HIV-positive.<ref name=People11.28.94/><ref name=PedroAndMe45-46/><ref name=SunSentinel>Greenbaum, Kurt (February 5, 1992). [http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-02-05/news/9201060923_1_aids-virus-zamora-school-students "One Of Their Own, Teen-ager with AIDS Virus Cautions Students"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150113031836/http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1992-02-05/news/9201060923_1_aids-virus-zamora-school-students |date=January 13, 2015 }}. ''[[Sun-Sentinel]]''. p. 1B</ref>
[[Image:PedroZamora1993.jpg|thumb|right|upright|Zamora in 1993]]
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.<ref name=Winick49-56>Winick (2000). pp. 49-56.</ref><ref name=Episode8>{{cite episode |title=Together and Apart |series=The Real World: San Francisco |season=3 |number=8 |network=MTV |airdate=August 18, 1994}}</ref> Five months later, he suffered a severe case of [[shingles]]. Upon recovery, Zamora joined a Miami-based HIV/AIDS resource center called Body Positive. There he met others with HIV and AIDS, learned more about the disease and how he could still have a fulfilling life. Soon thereafter, he began to talk about his condition to others, wanting to raise awareness in his community.<ref name=People11.28.94/><ref name=SunSentinel/><ref name=Winick49-56/>

Zamora soon became a full-time AIDS educator.<ref name=MiamiHerald/><ref name=PedroAndMe57-58>Winick (2000). pp. 57-58.</ref> He lectured at schools for all ages, at [[Parent-Teacher Association|PTA]] meetings, and in churches. In five years, he spoke nationwide hundreds of times, attended an international AIDS conference, and even served on the board of a charitable trust endowed by insurance companies—despite being denied insurance for himself.<ref name="People11.28.94" /> The constant travel exhausted Zamora, sometimes forcing him to cancel speaking engagements.<ref name="PedroAndMe58-59">Winick (2000). pp. 58-59.</ref> In 1991, his work came to national attention when Eric Morganthaler wrote a front-page article about him for the ''[[Wall Street Journal]].'' The publicity resulted in invitations to [[talk show]] interviews by [[Geraldo Rivera]], [[Phil Donahue]] and [[Oprah Winfrey]].<ref name="PedroAndMe57-58" /><ref name="peak">{{cite web |author=Vaillancourt, Daniel |url=http://www.peak.sfu.ca/gopher/94-2/issue11/zamora.ans |title=Pedro Zamora Tells All |publisher=The Peak. |volume=87 |issue=11 |date=July 11, 1994 |access-date=January 18, 2011 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110514145901/http://www.peak.sfu.ca/gopher/94-2/issue11/zamora.ans |archive-date=May 14, 2011}}</ref> 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."<ref name="People11.28.94" /><ref name="aidsaction">{{cite web |url=http://www.aidsaction.org/pedro.htm |title=Pedro Zamora |publisher=Aidsaction.org |access-date=January 18, 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080504072238/http://www.aidsaction.org/pedro.htm |archive-date=May 4, 2008}}</ref>

Zamora attended the 1993 Lesbian and Gay March on [[Washington D.C.|Washington]], where he met [[Sean Sasser]], also an AIDS educator, who would eventually become his partner. Sasser was moved by Zamora's presence and conviction, recalling, "I was kind of like, 'Wow.' I had never run across someone who was as good at it as he was." Sasser lived in San Francisco,<ref name="POZ">Jones, Anderson (June 1997). [http://www.poz.com/articles/241_1725.shtml "Nowhere Else to Go"]. ''[[POZ (magazine)|POZ]]''.</ref><ref name="PedroAndMe103-109"/><ref name="WashingtonPost">McGonough, Megan (August 13, 2013). [https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/obituaries/sean-sasser-part-of-one-of-tvs-first-gay-romances-dies-at-44/2013/08/13/d6cc1a4c-035e-11e3-9259-e2aafe5a5f84_story.html "Sean Sasser, part of one of TV's first gay romances, dies at 44"]. ''[[The Washington Post]]''.</ref> and shortly after he'd met Zamora, he'd learned that producers of the [[MTV]] [[reality television|reality TV show]] ''[[The Real World: San Francisco|The Real World]]'' were looking for an HIV positive person to cast in the 1994 season in San Francisco.<ref name="POZ" />