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Pedro Zamora was a Cuban-American AIDS educator who appeared in MTV’s The Real World: San Francisco, its third season, in 1994. Zamora was the first person with AIDS to appear regularly on television.

Diagnosed with HIV in 1989, Zamora shortly became a full-time AIDS educator, speaking to community groups, appearing on television, and even testifying before Congress.

Prior to moving into the house, the cast mates were informed that one of their housemates was HIV+, but didn’t know which one until they moved in. There was some apprehension and tension among the housemates, and open hostility from one who was eventually evicted.

During the season, Zamora started dating Sean Sasser. This being long before gay marriage was legal, they held a commitment ceremony, the first of its kind to be aired on television.

Zamora’s health declined rapidly during filming and he died the day after the final episode aired.

Zamora’s legacy included multiple scholarships, foundations, and clinics founded in his name as well as an arrangement to admit 20,000 Cubans to the US annually that stood for 20 years.

Two of his housemates continued his AIDS activism in their own fields.

Cartoonist, comic writer and illustrator, and screenwriter Judd Winnick wrote a graphic novel called Pedro and Me, about his friendship with Zamora, which earned multiple awards from the American Library Association and a GLAAD media award. He won two subsequent GLAAD Media Awards for his work on the Green Lantern and Green Arrow comics.

Winnick is married to another housemate, Pam Ling. A medical student during their time at the house, she was the only housemate with prior knowledge about HIV transmission. She is now a doctor specializing in HIV/AIDS research.

Another housemate was Rachel Campos, now a Fox News host, and married to Secretary of Transportation and former Republican Congressman Sean Duffy, who is also a Real World alumnus.