Gloria Casarez, 42; head of Phila. Office of LGBT Affairs

Gloria Casarez, 42, the city's first director of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender affairs, died Sunday after a five-year battle with metastatic breast cancer.

Even as her conditioned worsened, Ms. Casarez participated in a media event at City Hall two weeks ago to celebrate LGBT History Month.

She died on her own terms at sunrise, said her wife, Tricia Dressel. Dressel was with her at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania and they listened to Ms. Casarez's favorite music, U2, 10,000 Maniacs, and Bjork. "She was a fighter to the end," Dressel said.

Ms. Casarez was born in Kensington in 1971. She witnessed factory closings and the spread of drugs in the community, and her early activism focused on poverty and homelessness. She was a founding member of and community organizer for Empty Shelters, a housing rights and economic justice organization.

She also became involved in LGBT issues as coordinator of the LGBT Center at the University of Pennsylvania and as executive director of the Gay and Lesbian Latino AIDS Education Initiative.

A newly elected Mayor Nutter appointed Ms. Casarez director of the city's Office of LGBT Affairs in April 2008 after considering dozens of candidates. She was considered a high-level liaison to the LGBT community. Later in 2008, Ms. Casarez helped organize the Mayor's Advisory Board on LGBT Affairs.

She worked at extending services to the LGBT community, and in 2012 one national index placed Philadelphia as the top-ranked major city for extending legal protections to LGBT people.

Rue Landau, executive director of the Philadelphia Commission on Human Relations, said Ms. Casarez worked with individual city departments to ensure they didn't discriminate against LGBT people.

"We all loved Gloria's commitment and spirit," Nutter said in a statement. "She was a fighter and a champion, personally and professionally. I knew when I met her that I had found the right person to serve as the director of the LGBT Office, but more importantly, that I had met a great person.

Mark Segal, publisher of the Philadelphia Gay News, said Ms. Casarez's death was an "incredible loss to the city, Mayor Nutter, her wife and family, and the LGBT community."

Ms. Casarez and Dressel were married in 2011 in New York City, where it was legal, around the time of their 10-year anniversary, Dressel said.

Arrangements for services for Ms. Casarez had not been finalized but information should be available later in the week, Dressel said.

215-854-5897

@bobfernandez1