The Sean Sasser Endowment Fund will honor the memory of the late AIDS educator and activist by supporting programs for gay men of color, according to a statement by AIDS United, which created the fund. At the time of his passing, he was the spouse of Michael Kaplan, president and CEO of AIDS United. Sasser first appeared in the celebrity spotlight in 1994 as the partner of the late Pedro Zamora, who starred in the MTV reality show The Real World. As people with HIV, they gave an early face to the epidemic. The Human Rights Campaign, an LGBT group, has given a $25,000 founding donation.

To read the statement, click here.