Sean Sasser, a breakout star from MTV’s "Real World: San Francisco,” died at the age of 44. Sean Sasser became a pioneer of gay marriage during the 1994 season of the seminal reality TV show. Sean Sasser had been suffering from a rare form of lung cancer.

According to published reports, Sean Sasser died of mesothelioma, a rare lung disease. Sasser was HIV-positive. Sean Sasser remarried after the show ended. He spent his post-"Real World" days as a pastry chef at RIS Restaurant in Washington, D.C.

Judd Winick, one of Sasser's "Real World" costars from the 1994 season took to Twitter to pay his respect. Winick tweeted, ""Our love goes out to his family and husband Michael. We will miss u so much."

Sean Sasser came to the world’s attention when he and his boyfriend Pedro Zamora had their commitment ceremony telecast on the Nov. 3, 1994 episode of MTV’s “Real World San Fancisco.” The ceremony was held at the "Real World" house. Sean Sasser and Pedro Zamora exchanged vows and gave each other wedding rings. Eight days after the episode was televised, Pedro Zamora died of AIDS. He was just 22.

The episode was the introduction to the idea of gay marriage to many young people. Years before gay marriage became a political hot issue. A national poll conducted in 1996 found that 68% of the people who took the poll were opposed to gay marriage. That figure dropped to 48% by 2012.