Cured makes its U.S. broadcast debut Monday night at 10:00 p.m., opening the fall season of PBS’ Independent Lens and coinciding with National Coming Out Day.
The film, from co-directors Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer, examines the activism behind the removal of homosexuality from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders in 1973.Before the removal of homosexuality from the manual, those in the psychiatric establishment believed that homosexuality was only a condition that could be “cured.” The treatments, according to a press release, included intensive talk therapy, electroconvulsive therapy, and aversion therapy.