CURED: Film Screening and Live Q&A
Screening Available: November 25th - December 5th
Live Q&A: Wednesday December 1st at 7pm ET
The University of Pennsylvania is pleased to invite you to a private screening of the award-winning PBS documentary CURED, which highlights a pivotal but little-known moment in LGBTQ+ history when activists rose up to challenge a formidable institution — and won! CURED will be available to screen online from November 25-December 5. On Wednesday, December 1st (World AIDS Day) at 7 pm ET, we will have a virtual Zoom Q&A session about CURED featuring the film's co-director, Patrick Sammon, and activist & film interviewee, Rev. Magora Kennedy. Here are Zoom details for the Q&A.
Described as “fascinating†(Hollywood Reporter), “riveting†(The Queer Review), and “one of the best documentaries of this or any year†(British Film Institute) — and the winner of the American Historical Association’s John E. O’Connor Award for best historical documentary of 2021 — CURED takes viewers inside the David-versus-Goliath battle that led the American Psychiatric Association to remove homosexuality from its manual of mental illnesses in 1973. Watch the trailer for CURED.
CURED spotlights a diverse group of activists who achieved this epic victory in the movement for LGBTQ equality. In 1972, Dr. John Fryer, who had held a residency at the University of Pennsylvania and was forced to leave because of his homosexuality, took the stage at the APA Annual Meeting in Dallas. Wearing a distorted Richard Nixon mask and using a voice-altering microphone, Fryer shared his tormented experiences as a closeted gay psychiatrist. This speech marked a turning point in the fight to remove homosexuality from the APA’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. In 2014, Penn Medicine established the annual John E. Fryer Lecture in Medicine to pay tribute to the pioneering efforts of the late Philadelphia psychiatrist.
While CURED highlights a little-known story from the past, its lessons are profoundly relevant today. Ultimately, the documentary celebrates the pathbreaking contributions of LGBTQ+ pioneers while demonstrating that even in the face of seemingly insurmountable obstacles, determined individuals can work together to create lasting social change.
We hope you’ll be able to join us to watch and discuss this inspiring new film!