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CURED Documentary Screening, Talkback and Reception

A Celebration of LGBTQ+ History Month

In recognition of LGBTQ+ History Month and National Coming Out Day, the Library is pleased to host a screening and discussion of the award-winning documentary CURED. Reception to follow.

CURED tells the story of a pivotal yet largely unknown chapter in the struggle for LGBTQ+ equality, dignity and visibility: the campaign that led the American Psychiatric Association to remove the diagnosis of homosexuality from its manual of mental illnesses in 1973.

Until this momentous change, every gay person — no matter how well-adjusted — was automatically classified as mentally ill and in need of a “cure.” Described as “fascinating” (Hollywood Reporter) and “one of the best documentaries of this or any year” (British Film Institute), the film weaves rare archival material with first-person testimony from the activists, psychiatrists, and allies who challenged psychiatry’s classification and won a crucial victory in the modern movement for LGBTQ+ equality. CURED has also been hailed by The Queer Review as “riveting,” with the reviewer adding: “It’s hard not to be deeply moved and shed tears of appreciation for the queer heroes who came before us.”

Following the screening, the film's Emmy-nominated directors, Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer, will be joined by Dr. Danielle Hairston for an interactive talkback session.

A reception, open to all attendees, will follow the Q&A.

About the Panelists

Patrick Sammon, a resident of Washington, DC, is the co-producer and co-director of CURED, an Emmy-nominated PBS documentary that has won more than 20 prizes, including audience awards at the LGBTQ film festivals in San Francisco and New York; the Austen Riggs Erikson Prize for Excellence in Mental Health Media; and a $50,000 award in the Library of Congress Lavine/Ken Burns Prize for Film. He previously served as creator and executive producer of CODEBREAKER, an award-winning drama-documentary about the life and legacy of gay British codebreaker Alan Turing that reached more than three million viewers worldwide. Patrick’s latest film, LOU’S LEGACY: A REPORTER’S LIFE AT THE WASHINGTON BLADE, tells the story of legendary Blade reporter Lou Chibbaro Jr.; it had its world premiere earlier this year at the King Library in DC and subsequently aired on PBS.

Bennett Singer is a Los Angeles-based filmmaker and the other co-director of CURED. He earned a duPont-Columbia Award for his work on EYES ON THE PRIZE II, the landmark PBS series on the history of the civil rights movement, and went on to co-direct BROTHER OUTSIDER, a documentary portrait of the gay civil rights activist Bayard Rustin. That film premiered at the Sundance Film Festival and is currently streaming on Netflix and Kanopy; it was shown at the King Library in DC earlier this year as an official selection of WorldPride 2025. The former executive editor of TIME Magazine’s education program, Bennett is the author or editor of five books, including, most recently, LGBTQ STATS, an award-winning almanac of facts and figures on the LGBTQ+ revolution that he co-authored with his husband, David Deschamps. With Patrick Sammon and several other colleagues, he co-directed QUEER2QUEER, a series of short videos featuring intergenerational conversations between LGBTQ+ activists. The series won the 2025 Award for Excellence in Digital Video from NLGJA: The Association of LGBTQ+ Journalists.

Dr. Danielle Hairston is a nationally and internationally recognized leader in medical education and training. As the Psychiatry Training Director at Howard University, she's dedicated to cultivating excellence in psychiatry. A graduate of Rutgers and Howard University, Dr. Hairston is a prominent voice in mental health equity, having served as past president of the American Psychiatric Association’s Black Caucus and as contributing author to Racism and Psychiatry. Beyond her academic and leadership roles, she curates personalized wellness experiences that foster transformation and enjoyment for both corporate teams and individuals. A former Robert Wood Johnson Culture of Health Leader and Hopelab Fellow, she shares her expertise through her Black Psychiatry platform; as a recurring expert on The Karen Hunter Show; and on The Next 72 Hours podcast, which explores the lived realities of Black people navigating the American mental health system.

Watch the trailer

To learn more about CURED, visit www.cureddocumentary.com

This program is generously sponsored by Fenwick & West and The American Psychiatric Association Foundation.

• Documentary running time: 55 minutes
• Recommended for ages 14+
   

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