Pedro Zamora - Legacy and Tribute

Legacy and Tribute

After his death, Zamora was publicly praised by President Bill Clinton and Donna Shalala for his leadership and work in educating high school students, saying that through his appearances on The Real World, Pedro had become a part of viewers’ families, and that all people who watched the show could now say that they “knew” someone who had lived with AIDS.

MTV broadcast A Tribute to Pedro Zamora, a special memorial program, in his honor.

A street in Miami (SW 59th Street) was given the name "Pedro Zamora Way", although it is not in Hialeah, where he lived.

A number of organizations were created in Pedro's name, including National Pedro Zamora Foundation, which was founded by Winick, Ling, Mily Zamora, and Sasser, The Pedro Zamora Memorial Fund, which was created by the AIDS Action Foundation, the Pedro Zamora Youth Clinic, The Pedro Zamora Public Policy Fellowship and the Pedro Zamora Youth HIV Clinic. Winick, Ling, Mily Zamora and Sasser eventually distanced themselves from the Foundation due to conflicts with its president, Brian Quintana.

Winick continued lecturing on behalf of Pedro for three years, and his friendship with Zamora helped shape his subsequent work as a comic book writer and artist. His autobiographical graphic novel, Pedro and Me: Friendship, Loss, and What I Learned, was published in September 2000. It was awarded and nominated for numerous awards, including six American Library Association awards, a nomination for an Eisner Award, won Winick his first GLAAD award, has been praised by creators such as Frank Miller, Neil Gaiman, and Armistead Maupin, and has been incorporated into school curricula across the country. Winick's experiences with Pedro would also help shape his work in mainstream superhero comics, which would receive considerable media attention for storylines in Green Lantern and Green Arrow which explored gay or AIDS-related themes.

Ling went on to devote her medical research to HIV and AIDS.

Bunim-Murray Productions produced a film, Pedro, directed by Nick Oceano, dramatizing Zamora's life. The film was an Official Selection at the 2008 Toronto Film Festival. In the film, which is Bunim-Murray's first scripted project, Zamora is portrayed by Alex Loynaz.