Sasser, AIDS activist famous for MTV commitment ceremony with Pedro Zamora, dies at 44
Posted August 8, 2013 6:30 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
WASHINGTON – A man who made history when he publicly exchanged vows with well-known gay partner and AIDS activist Pedro Zamora in the 1990s has died. Sean Sasser was 44.
In what was then an unprecedented act, Sasser exchanged vows with Zamora in a 1994 commitment ceremony on MTV’s seminal reality TV show “The Real World.” Zamora died of AIDS later that year, and Sasser became an AIDS activist.
The non-profit group AIDS United and a Washington restaurant where Sasser worked as executive pastry chef confirmed that Sasser died Wednesday.
AIDS United’s board of trustees chairman Douglas Brooks says the Detroit native died of mesothelioma, a form of lung cancer.
Sasser’s husband, Michael Kaplan, is AIDS United’s president.
