Film Celebrates Work of Reluctant Hero Who Changed Perceptions About Gays : Lifestyle: Psychologist’s pioneering study revealed no difference in pathologies of homosexual and heterosexual men.

Evelyn Hooker, seated in her sunny Santa Monica apartment, describes herself as “hopelessly heterosexual.”

But she is also perhaps the most celebrated person in gay rights history. A new documentary called “Changing Our Minds: The Story of Dr. Evelyn Hooker,” directed by Richard Schmiechen and produced by David Haugland, details her life’s work.

In a 1957 report, Hooker challenged then-prevailing beliefs about homosexuality. Her groundbreaking study contended that homosexuals were not inherently abnormal and showed no difference between the pathologies of homosexual and heterosexual men.

It took more than a decade, but eventually the Establishment agreed. The American Psychiatric Assn. struck homosexuality from its Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Psychiatric Disorders in 1973. The American Psychological Assn. followed suit in 1975--both actions fueling increased gay rights activism.

Just last month, Hooker was given the American Psychological Assn.’s “Distinguished Contribution to Psychology” award.

“Changing Our Minds” chronicles Hooker’s work as well as a short course in gay history.

Now 85, Hooker said she is pleased with the documentary: “Gives a kind of finality to one’s life, doesn’t it?” she said. “I don’t exactly say my last goodby to the world on film, but it does sum me up like nothing else.”

She is uncomfortable with being labeled a hero, however. “They talk about all this courage I’m supposed to have had,” said Hooker, leaning forward, her lined face obscured by a cloud of cigarette smoke. “I don’t get that. Curiosity and empathy were what compelled me to do my study.”

Hooker’s work began when she struck up a relationship with Sam From, a gay man who attended one of Hooker’s psychology classes at UCLA. From persuaded Hooker to study non-pathological homosexuals, a novel idea in the 1940s. Hooker had previously conducted research in animal psychology, but after publication of her report, she continued to study homosexuals and headed the National Institute of Mental Health’s Task Force on Homosexuality.

“Changing Our Minds” uses horrific footage and photos of lobotomies, hysterectomies and electric shock treatments, once thought to cure homosexuals. Also included are clips from an early 1960s educational film called, “Boys Beware!” which details the dangers of preying homosexuals.

The opening scene of the movie uses footage from 1951 that shows a young man pacing a dark cell muttering about his “abnormal sexual practices.” The next scene shows the same young man eight days later, after having undergone a transorbital lobotomy to correct his homosexuality.

“Here’s this doctor, who is cutting up people’s brains in order to mold them to his view, versus the scientist Evelyn Hooker who demonstrated acceptance of gay men,” Schmiechen said.

“It’s a powerful image, and one I knew was right for the beginning of this film.”

Hooker seems to agree with the approach. “You can’t understand a deprived and punished group unless you know them in spades--you know their suffering firsthand,” she said.

Filming Hooker’s story took five years and sent Haugland and Schmiechen scouring medical libraries and gay and lesbian archives.

Although the filmmakers located key historical material in gay and lesbian archives, the process of cataloguing and sorting gay and lesbian history is in its infancy. The filmmakers sometimes resorted to individual photo albums and home movies to patch spots in the documentary.

“The gay and lesbian community has a rich history that desperately needs to be recorded or it will be lost forever,” said David Smith, executive director of the Los Angeles chapter of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. “These types of projects are invaluable. They document the struggles, the triumphs and the incredible diversity that encompasses our community.”

The film was developed by Intrepid Productions, a West Hollywood-based company headed by Haugland and Schmiechen, who is best known for having won a 1984 Academy Award for producing “The Times of Harvey Milk.” Haugland previously produced plays at the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis and won a 1980 Academy Award for his work on the documentary “From Mao To Mozart: Isaac Stern in China.”

Since joining talents, Schmiechen and Haugland have also directed and produced “The Jungle Flying Machine,” a highly rated National Geographic Explorer program, and the Arboreal Aviators--both documentary films about tropical rain forests. Intrepid is preparing production for a CBS TV movie based on “The Times of Harvey Milk.”

The company’s newest release has appeared at the Berlin and Melbourne film festivals since its release earlier this year. It was also screened in July at the Los Angeles International Gay and Lesbian Film Festival.

The film captured a best documentary award at San Francisco’s Gay and Lesbian Film Festival and is slated for 20 other festivals later this year, in such places as St. Petersburg, Russia; Hong Kong; Taiwan; Florence, London, and Leipzig, Germany. Release to about 100 American theaters will begin in early 1993, pending final negotiations with a distributor.

Wherever “Changing Our Minds” is shown, audiences engage in a sort of Evelyn-love fest. Hooker has become a near-mythic figure for the gay and lesbian community, a heterosexual champion who accepted them when disdain and disgust were commonplace. “People, whether gay or straight, seem to love her instantly,” Haugland said. “They want to emulate her qualities. It’s empowering to have someone believe in you--someone who has not only shared in, but has helped create your community’s history.”

The documentary’s release is timely, Haugland added. “There are four states right now that have ballot initiatives that would (legalize) discrimination against gays and lesbians by denying their use of public facilities,” he said.