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SOUTHERN VOICE NOVEMBER3/1994
AIDS educator Pedro Zamora
close to death
Miami—Pedro Zamora, a young Cuban-
American man who has left national audiences
in tears as he pleaded for more-humane re
sponses to people afflicted with AIDS, is dy
ing of the disease in a Miami hospital.
A doctor said he has a severe neurological
disorder, cannot walk, speak or eat, and often
cannot recognize family and friends.
Perhaps best known for his appearances
earlier this year on the MTV series “The Real
World,” Zamora has received thousands of
letters from around the country and got a tele
phone call from President Clinton.
In a news conference October 21 at Mercy
Hospital, Dr. Corklin Steinhart said it is im
possible to say how much time Zamora has
left, but he made it clear it won’t be long:
“The deterioration is continuing and unrelent
ing.”
Zamora came to Miami during the 1980
Mariel boatlift with his parents, a sister and a
brother—five other siblings stayed behind in
Cuba. In 1986, when Pedro was 13, his mother
died of cancer and he became sexually active
as a means of coping with his grief. After
finding out five years ago that he was infected
with HIV, Zamora began a national lecture
tour, telling school audiences how he prac
ticed unprotected sex in high school.
He testified at a congressional hearing last
year. In January of 1994 he began participat
ing in the “The Real World.” After the first
day of filming, Zamora told fellow cast mem
bers about his condition.
He said the others on the show took it well,
but that he had to tell them they couldn’t get
AIDS from doing things like drinking from
the same glass or using the same bathroom.
After falling ill in New York in August,
Zamora returned to Miami and was hospital-
Pedro Zamora, in an MTV portrait re
leased early this year.
ized. He left the Miami hospital last month,
but entered again last week.
The doctor said the neurological disorder
is progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy
(PML), which causes dementia.
At the family’s request, Zamora is regis
tered at the hospital under an alias. Telephone
operators at the hospital say they have been
inundated with calls to him. He has received
about a thousand letters at the hospital over
the last week, said hospital spokeswoman
Odalys Lloret.
TOM WELLS
Justice Dept, lets deadline pass
for Meinhold appeal
Los Angeles—The Clinton administration
passed up an opportunity to challenge a court
ruling that allowed reinstatement of a sailor
who publicly declared his homosexuality.
The ruling affects Navy sonar operator
Keith Meinhold, who revealed on national tele
vision in 1992 that he is gay. Meinhold was
discharged under old military regulations that
were replaced last year.
John McGuire, an attorney for Meinhold,
said the Justice Department let pass an Oct. 14
deadline to appeal an August decision by a
panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals
in San Francisco. That 3-0 ruling found the
military can dismiss open gays or lesbians only
if they say they intend to have homosexual
sex, not for simply “coming out.”
The deadline applied to seeking review by
the full appeals court, and the government still
has 45 days from Oct. 14 to decide whether to
appeal to the Supreme Court, Justice Depart
ment spokesman Joe Krovisky said. He said
Solicitor General Drew Days had not yet de
cided whether to take the Meinhold case to the
high court. •
The federal district court that ordered
Meinhold’s reinstatement said there was no
rational basis for excluding service members
solely because of their sexual orientation.
“For 2 'h years, the Pentagon has fought
tooth and nail to kick me out of the Navy
because Fm gay,” said Meinhold, now sta
tioned at Naval Air Station Whidbey Island in
Washington. “By this decision, they finally
have admitted that I can say I am gay and
proudly serve my country in the military.”
The court said that only a statement show-
Keith Meinhold can “say I am gay and
proudly serve” in the military—at least
for now.
ing a “concrete, fixed or expressed desire to
engage in homosexual acts despite their being
prohibited” justifies an involuntary discharge.
Because Meinhold’s case involved since-
modified rules, the Clinton administration still
could argue for a gay ban using newer cases
winding their way through other courts.
Under the new policy, the military cannot
ask about sexual orientation, but can discharge
servicemembers who say that they are gay or
lesbian. The policy allows them to stay in the
service only by proving that they will remain
celibate.
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