Sean Sasser
| Sean Sasser | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
October 25, 1968 Detroit, Michigan, U.S. |
| Died | August 7, 2013 (aged 44) Washington, D.C. |
| Occupation | Educator, chef, reality television personality, activist |
| Spouse(s) | Michael Kaplan (2013) |
| Partner(s) | Pedro Zamora (1994) |
Sean Franklin Sasser (October 25, 1968 – August 7, 2013) was an American educator, pastry chef and reality television personality best known for his appearances on MTV's The Real World: San Francisco, which depicted his relationship with fellow AIDS activist Pedro Zamora. Although not one of the original cast members himself, Sasser's relationship with Zamora was one of the focal points of that season. This included a commitment ceremony in which the two exchanged vows, the first such ceremony for a same sex couple on television, and considered a landmark event in the medium.
Sean Franklin Sasser was born on October 25, 1968 in Detroit, where he grew up. When he was six, his parents divorced, after which his father, an Army sergeant, was mostly absent from his life, sending a Casio watch to him every year on his birthday. (Years later his father called when Sasser was in Minneapolis, and left a message with Sasser's boyfriend, but left no number and did not call back.) Sasser's mother, Patricia Sasser, continued to raise Sasser and his younger sister. Sasser attended a private school, which he said was probably not typical of most African-American young people in urban Detroit. He later attended Cass Technical High School, a select college-preparatory magnet school. After high school, Sasser attended the University of Chicago to study Near Eastern civilizations and become an archeologist, commenting, "I wanted to be one of the first major black archeologists to call the bluff on all this Egyptian stuff that was stolen by other cultures." However, he found himself bored and depressed, and barely completed his freshman year. Sasser dropped out of college, intending initially to take a year off. After he came out as gay to his devoutly religious mother (the daughter of a minister mother), he attempted to enlist in the United States Navy, explaining in a 1997 interview, "I didn't want to be gay anymore. I thought it would work. You know, the discipline, all that stuff." Before he could leave his home, however, a mandatory blood test revealed that the 19-year-old Sasser was HIV-positive. He decided to enroll in culinary school, as he had always been fond of cooking, and wanted to open his own restaurant.
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