Dustin Lance Black on the late Pedro Zamora: “I find myself missing him”

Oscar-winner Dustin Lance Black wrote the screenplay for the MTV biopic Pedro – about Real World: San Francisco cast member Pedro Zamora – set to premiere on April 1 on MTV and Logo. With Milk dominating in recent months, we have heard very little from Black about the screenplay he wrote more than five years ago that has finally made its way to the screen. “I never met Pedro personally but through his family and friends, I got to know a brave young man who I admire greatly,” he says in the new issue of TV Guide.

Here is more from Black, in his own words, about Pedro:

“In 2003, director Paris Barclay approached me with a project. “Do you remember Pedro Zamora? He was the really cute cast member on The Real World: San Francisco.” Of course I did – he was adorable – but more importantly, he was one of the first out gay role models ever to grace mainstream TV. I was still in the closet then, but I never missed an episode.

In 1994, there were few HIV/AIDS treatment options, and little hope. Those who tested positive generally hid and eventually vanished. But when Pedro was diagnosed as a teenager, he willfully opened himself up to scathing, bigoted attacks in order to share his story. He hoped that America would learn that HIV/AIDS was not just a gay disease, and that it could easily be prevented. To many of us, he was one of the few examples of a gay person living openly and with pride. And to those with HIV and AIDS, his story signaled that life did not end with a diagnosis.

Flashing forward 15 years, we are losing ground. African-Americans and Latinos are still disproportionately affected by HIV/AIDS. It is now the leading cause of death for African-American women ages 25-34.

Pedro’s message is getting lost.

Lately, I find myself missing him, hoping that a brave young person might pick up his torch because it seems clear to me that – gay, straight, black, white, male or female – we need Pedro’s inspirational story and his life-changing message back.”