The Real World of Pedro Zamora

I created the zine “The Real World of Pedro Zamora” to draw attention to the life and activism of Pedro Zamora, a cast member of The Real World: San Francisco in 1994. Pedro became popular as one of the first media personalities and reality stars to disclose his HIV+ status. As a Cuban-American immigrant, in an interracial relationship with his HIV+ partner, Pedro’s openness about living with AIDS was groundbreaking. As an activist and educator, Pedro utilized the platform of MTV’s programming to introduce an audience to subject matter so often ignored by the mainstream. He passed away at the age of 23.

This zine draws heavily from José Esteban Muñoz’s essay on Pedro from his book “Disidentifications: Queers of Color and the Performance of Politics” (1999)