Cured

Premiered October 11, 2021

Directed by Patrick Sammon

When homosexuality was considered an illness to be “cured," LGBTQ activists fought back.

About the Documentary

When doctors classified homosexuality as a mental illness to be “cured,” they employed cruel treatments like electroshock and lobotomies. LGBTQ+ activists and their allies fought back — and won a momentous victory when the American Psychiatric Association removed homosexuality from its manual of mental disorders in 1973.

The Filmmakers

Bennett Singer

Bennett Singer has been making social-issue documentaries for more than 25 years. He co-directed Electoral Dysfunction (PBS) and Brother Outsider: The Life of Bayard Rustin (PBS’s POV) and won a duPont-Columbia Award for his work on Eyes on the Prize II (PBS). He is the former executive editor of TIME Magazine’s education program.

Patrick Sammon

Patrick Sammon, the president of Story Center Films in Washington, D.C., was creator and executive producer of Codebreaker, a “superb” (The Telegraph) and “imaginative” (Sunday Times) drama-documentary that “artfully explored” (The Mail) the life of gay British codebreaker Alan Turing. The film attracted more than 3 million viewers.