Nine Men We Still Miss: AIDS Robs the World of Some of the Brightest Lights

The original reality show broke ground with Pedro.

On November 11, 1994, the day after the final episode of The Real World: San Francisco aired, Pedro Zamora succumbed to complications from AIDS. Most of the world had only known him since June of that year, but the 22-year-old had made the most of the short time he’d spent on earth.

Born in Cuba, raised in Miami, Pedro was diagnosed as HIV+ while still in high school, and had dedicated his life to being an educator on the disease.  Prior to appearing on the groundbreaking MTV reality show, he had already spoken about the disease with Oprah Winfrey, Phil Donahue, and before a session of Congress.

But it was by appearing on The Real World: San Francisco that he managed to have a global impact. For many young people, Pedro was the first real, out gay man they ever saw on television or even in their daily lives. Over the course of the program, the world watched as he battled both the disease and his roommate Puck, found love, and even had a commitment ceremony.

Pedro was the face of youth living with a disease with no cure, or even back then, an effective treatment. He took on the task with both dignity and relish, and then President Clinton credited him with humanizing those living with HIV/AIDS.

I credit him with putting a human face on the word "gay" and for being proud of who he was, something a young man in West Virginia truly needed to see.

Pedro’s life, already so well documented by news and reality television, was immortalized again earlier this year with a movie by Oscar winning writer Dustin Lance Black and produced by our parent company, MTV.

It was odd seeing a life we had watched reenacted, but it was important.

HIV/AIDS has taken a huge toll on the world, from Hollywood to orphanages full of children in Africa. Over the next few pages, we’ll take a look at eight more men we miss besides Pedro that the disease has taken from the world, some gay, some straight, but all missed.