Sean Sasser
American educator, activist and pastry chef
Biography
Sean Sasser (born in Detroit, October 25, 1968 – died August 7, 2013) was an American educator, activist and pastry chef, best known for his appearances on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco. His significance lies in the visibility the show gave to a relationship between two men living with HIV, at a time when such stories were rarely seen on television.
Sasser grew up in Detroit with his mother after his parents divorced. He attended the University of Chicago to study Near Eastern civilizations, but left after barely completing his first year. After learning he was HIV-positive at nineteen, he decided to train as a cook. He worked in Chicago restaurants before moving to San Francisco, where he joined youth HIV groups and spoke publicly about his experience.
On the show he met Pedro Zamora, a fellow AIDS activist, and the two exchanged vows in a commitment ceremony broadcast on television. Zamora died in November 1994. Sasser resumed his advocacy on HIV and LGBT issues and was appointed by President Bill Clinton to the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS. He later worked as a pastry chef at luxury hotels in Portland and at a Washington, D.C. restaurant, where his homemade ice creams and sorbets were praised. He died in 2013, aged 44, of a cancer-related illness, mesothelioma.
Key contributions
- Appearance on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco, where his relationship with Pedro Zamora brought the lives of two HIV activists to television.
- Commitment ceremony broadcast on television, remembered as a landmark in the depiction of gay couples on screen.
- Work as a pastry chef at luxury hotels and restaurants, known for homemade ice cream and sorbet.
- Youth HIV advocacy and public speaking in San Francisco, including a national awareness campaign.