Subject: Letters:  A Young Gay Hero In War Against AIDS
Date: Published: 10/11/91 (45 lines)
Source:  Wall Street Journal.  Copyright Dow Jones & Co. Inc. 

    Letters to the Editor:
    A Young Gay Hero
    In War Against AIDS

    I am awed by Eric Morganthaler's Sept. 4 page-one article
 "Pedro's Story:  Teen With AIDS Virus Tries to Teach Youths
 Some Lessons for Life."  In an era sadly bereft of role
 models, Pedro Zamora exhibits a selflessness and bravery
 seldom seen in more conventional heroes.  I salute Pedro for
 his efforts to increase AIDS awareness and prevention, and I
 want him to know that his heroism will secure him an
 immortality most people can only dream about.
    Jonathan Daniel Edelman
    Assistant Missouri Attorney General
    Jefferson City, Mo.
    ---
    I applaud your article on Pedro Zamora.  An enlightening
 and life-affirming story about AIDS in much of today's press
 is hard to find.  Pedro deserves respect for his courage, and
 he is qualified to be a role model.  After a long search, I've
 found at least one young gay hero I can admire.
    Travis C. Yocom
    Kokomo, Ind.
    ---
    Pedro addressed everything but the solution to AIDS.  Pedro
 told schoolchildren of the illicit sex that gave him AIDS,
 but failed to mention that in his list of the means of
 avoidance, abstention is infinitely more than simply "an"
 answer; it is the answer.  All of the "be careful" advice in
 the world, including correct use of condoms and clean needles
 is worth less than nothing compared to don't.  As long as
 people reject don't, there will be Pedros to cloud the issue
 for schoolchildren, and there will be Morganthalers to write
 stories that tug at our heartstrings to mislead us from the
 real answer.
    Robert H. Callihan
    Moscow, Idaho

[This article is made available here by Dow Jones Co. for the
 personal and non-commercial use of callers to this bbs, in the
 hope that it will be of some help to those who are suffering
 from the disease and others who are seeking to help them.]