In this powerful courtroom scene, attorney Alan Shore defends a judge who paid $40,000 to a religious rehab facility hoping to “cure” himself of his homosexuality—presented as “Same Sex Attraction Disorder” (SSAD). The religious organization fails, and Shore’s sharp legal and moral argument dismantles the claim that homosexuality is a disease.

He critiques how religion and societal prejudices have pathologized homosexuality, turning it into something supposedly curable for political and financial gain. Shore’s closing argument speaks to the broader injustice of treating gay people as less than human—comparing such labeling to viewing them as the flu. Ultimately, he underscores that no sense of conventional sick role applies to being gay, and that paying to “fix” that is not only futile but demeaning.

Context and Importance

Episode Origin: The clip is from Season 3, Episode 14 of Boston Legal, titled “Selling Sickness”, which aired in February 2007.

Plot Significance: The episode centers on exposing and satirizing the absurd notion of “curing” homosexuality, pointing out the harms of labeling sexual orientation as a pathology.