Fifteen years ago, Pedro Zamora joined MTV's cast of "The Real World" and became TV's first HIV-positive man.

Last night, MTV premiered "Pedro," a story about his life and a chronicle of his efforts to raise awareness of HIV and AIDS. President Bill Clinton famously called him to tell him how much his efforts meant and that "the country owed him a lot." His eventual death was probably the first time that many young people actually felt that someone they knew and cared about died from a disease that carried a lot of myths, misperceptions and huge stigma.

Such is the power of TV—especially reality TV. We all know in our heads that reality TV isn't real. We know people exaggerate their behavior to get more air time and that they're all competing for their 15 minutes.

But in our hearts we do get attached to these people. We start to care about them in spite of ourselves, and that's why we keep watching. A lot has changed since 1994, when Pedro and his Real World housemates were early pioneers of the entire reality TV phenomenon. But what he did in his short life, what he meant to viewers and what he taught them about living with HIV continues to mean something to real live teens. He proved that someone on TV really can reach through the screen and change lives.

Today, half of all sexually-active young people will contract an STD by age 25—and most won’t know it. That's why last night's premiere of "Pedro" kicked off STD Awareness Month, and GYT: Get Yourself Tested, a new public awareness campaign from MTV, the Kaiser Family Foundation and Planned Parenthood Federation of America. GYT is an extension of MTV and Kaiser’s “It’s Your (Sex) Life” partnership to promote responsible decision making about sex. Check out their newly revamped web site, watch the movie on MTV, and tell us what you think.