“As a young person, he really did not believe that he was someone who could contract HIV or AIDS… It was not explained to him. And AIDS and HIV are not extensively taught in abstinence-only education — which was the mandate, schools would not receive funding if they did not agree to teach abstinence-only education. So in a lot of ways, it’s been a quantum leap backward. This is a health issue, not a moral issue. The previous administration, which did a decent job with AIDS in Africa, seems to feel quite comfortable ignoring what’s going on in our own country. Which is unfortunate.”

On the occasion of an MTV movie about the life of the late Real World star and AIDS activist, his co-star and best friend, comics creator Judd Winick, talks about the movie, Zamora, and the fight against AIDS today.