WASHINGTON, D.C. – A new endowment fund created by AIDS United and honoring the memory of AIDS educator and activist Sean Sasser will be used to mobilize philanthropic and community support for programs improving health outcomes for gay men of color. Sasser passed away August 7, 2013 after a brief but intense battle with mesothelioma, a rare lung cancer. He had lived with HIV for 25 years. The Sean Sasser Endowment Fund will be announced at the public memorial for Sasser on September 21 in Washington D.C. [pullquote]He caught the public’s attention in 1993 when his boyfriend Pedro Zamora, also an AIDS activist, starred in the groundbreaking season of MTV’s The Real World San Francisco.[/pullquote]
The spouse of AIDS United President and CEO Michael Kaplan at the time of his passing, Sasser had become an AIDS advocate at the age of 19, when the Navy rejected him after an HIV-positive test result. He caught the public’s attention in 1993 when his boyfriend Pedro Zamora, also an AIDS activist, starred in the groundbreaking season of MTV’s The Real World San Francisco. After Zamora’s death, Sasser continued to speak out on AIDS, travelling to colleges and universities across the country. Sasser worked with several organizations during this time, including HIFY (Health Initiatives for Youth), GLAAD, Human Rights Campaign, and the AIDS Alliance for Children Youth & Families, among others. He also served on the Presidential Advisory Council on HIV/AIDS, appointed by President Clinton and Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala.
“Gay men, and other men who have sex with men, represent the only group in the United States currently seeing a rise in new infections,” said Kaplan. “Recent research suggests that a black gay man in many urban areas of the United States has a one in four chance of becoming infected with HIV by the age of 25. By the age of 40, he has a 60 percent of becoming HIV positive. For us to turn the tide on this epidemic in this particularly vulnerable community, it is imperative that we mobilize and direct resources to programs that reach it. The Sean Sasser Endowment Fund honors Sean’s memory and his work by helping AIDS United do this.”
The public memorial, at which AIDS United will make the official announcement of the fund, will take place September 21 at National City Christian Church in Washington, D.C. Scheduled speakers include:
Brooks will also make the announcement about the Sean Sasser Endowment Fund.
Sasser eventually stepped out of the public eye to become the successful and celebrated pastry chef he had dreamed of being.
“Sean touched countless people with his courage, his determination and his kindness,” said Kaplan. “As one of the first public faces of young gay black men with HIV, his legacy will live on through those served by the programs supported by the fund AIDS United has created in his name.”
[From a News Release]
