‘CURED’: When LGBTQIA+ Activists Fight For Their Rights

As you are probably (and unfortunately) well aware of it, the story of LGBTQIA+ people has been a story of institutional violence. We are seeing progress nowadays, with queer people (slowly) obtaining the same rights as non queer people - and we can only hope and fight for it to be the case everywhere.

But, before this, before marriage, adoption, appropriate healthcare, before laws protecting us from discrimination, homosexuality was legally classified by governments and the American Psychiatric Association (APA) as a mental illness. This gave psychiatrists a legal ground to ‘treat’ homosexual patients in order to ‘cure’ them (hello, conversion therapies - did you know that it officially illegal in less than 10 countries, with France being the latest addition?).

It took years of activism and protests for the APA to outvote this classification. And this is the story that ‘CURED’ tells. The documentary, directed by Patrick Sammon and Bennett Singer, uncovers the fight of LGBTQIA+ people who believed they knew themselves better than psychiatrists.

‘CURED’ uses archive footage and interviews to illustrate the strategy and tactics used by queer activists to reach this milestone of LGBTQIA+ rights. Indeed, how can you expect to have the same rights as non queer people, when your legal existence is not even recognized?

‘CURED’ is powerful, brilliant, devastating at times but, mostly, full of hope, and we highly recommend you watch it! You can have a look at the trailer just down below. And if you leave near Geneva, Switzerland, a queer festival, ‘Everybody’s Perfect’ is actually showing the documentary this week, so grab your tickets!