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[applause] ♪ ♪ [in sturman told her musical selection lahood

[instrumental musical selection] [singing in foreign language] ♪

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[applause] >> hello, thank you again. before we send you a laugh, we would like to invite our special guest to come up and say a few words. thank you.

>> thank you all. i want to thank the city of san francisco, but the mayor, the board of supervisors, and the committee that organized this event. [applause] and we cannot have survived the last 12 years -- next january, it can be 12 years since we've founded this. it would not have survived without your support. for those of you who come for the first time, please go to our website and keep following our various performances. we have a big performance, a two-hour concert on november 20 in oakland. it is a fund-raising event. i hope to see many of you there.

i could not have done it without my family here. [applause] this has truly become my family in the last 12 years, and in the last year, they have been all my children. i do not know how to thank them. they have done wonderful work. it is really their work. i just do work behind the scenes. but it is their work, their effort, and their love for arabic music and our heritage. i cannot have done it without the board, and i want to single out the person who established this group with me. [applause] in 2000, and then we established the nonprofit to promote various aspects of the arab part -- art.

and we have been under the leadership, and they always say that behind a great man, there is a woman with a greater behind. [laughs] [laughter] thank you. [applause] >> i would like to thank you all for coming and enjoying the performances and the musical ensemble. now if you would like to join us in the north white hall, just through the stores writer there, and we will continue the celebration. thank you. [applause]

>> good afternoon. i want to thank everyone for coming. this is going to be the it gets better video, the first of its kind, produced by a law enforcement agency in the united states. some months ago, the commander came to me and said that she had a guy. it was a revelation at the time. she meant shawn norcutt, who was going to do our video for us. he has become not only are championed but our friend. unbelievable. along the way, i would be remiss if i did not recognize mike and albea, who worked with shawn to produce a very powerful video on such a critical subject. the young people in this

country and in san francisco. without further ado, it is showtime. >> my name is greg and i'm the chief of police for the san francisco police department. i was a small young man in san francisco and i would get bullied all the time. i had many brothers and sisters and i really appreciated when people stop off for me. i cannot even imagine what it is like growing up as a lgbt youth today. nobody deserves to be bullied. it does get better. until it does, we are going to stick up for you. believe me, it gets better. >> my name is andrea. >> my name is windy and i am a sergeant. >> i am a commander. >> i am a sergeant with the san francisco police department. >> i am a dispatcher. >> my name is michelle martinez

and i am a commander with the san francisco police department. >> i am a police officer. >> i am a commander. >> i am an officer with the san francisco police department. >> i grew up in new york city triet >> houston, texas. let's right outside manhattan. >> i am a native she said. >> my father was a sicilian man. >> my mother was and italian catholics. >> my mother was from japan. i was a bit of a tomboy. >> things got very awkward and strange for me. i had to start trying to act like one and look like one. >> i would always dress in jeans and converse tennis shoes. my girlfriends would be checking out the guys and i would be checking out the girls. >> i had these close friendships with my best girlfriend and i

was hiding from my senior prom date. >> there was never someone i could talk to because i thought i was different. >> by the age of five or six i already knew that i should keep it on the down low. >> i knew, absolutely, that i was not supposed to talk about it. >> i was not honest with myself or my family and. >> you are raised with the idea that you're supposed to grow up and have a family. >> find the man of your dreams to would support you. >> grow up and get married and have a husband. >> a wife, two children, a defense. -- picket fence. >> i did not have any positive gay role models that were out there. >> all of the imagery associated with gays and lesbians was someone you were supposed to laugh at or someone who was supposed to be ridiculed. >> i did not have anything that showed me it was ok to be who i

am. >> i had times when i did not want to get up and get out of bed, face the day. >> the feeling was really low. >> i wanted to just not be around. >> i thought of suicide. i was depressed. >> mostly, the message was that there was something wrong with me and i should just died. >> it did not feel good to want what i thought everybody should want. it just made me angry. >> there was a part of me that was a little bit ashamed. >> when the pain got too bad, in the pit of my stomach, i realize

i need to tell my parents. >> mom, i think i am gay. she says, i think i knew that. >> it was harder for me to tell my mom that it was for my mom to hear what i needed to say. >> i was a police officer for four years, thinking i was the only gay male police officer in the world. i believe i was the only gay male police officer in the world. >> others were like, huh? >> their jaws dropped. i expected my father to have a different reaction than he did. he looked about me and said, are you happy? i said, yes. he said, he looked down and said, then who gives a shit? >> and then he said, maybe solve all is not a good idea. softball is true all gayness for women.

>> i started crying and i broke down and started -- and told them. i want you to know that i am gay. there was a very long pause and me crying and all of a sudden, my grandfather, who is, by all means, the typical person that would not accept someone who is gay, he broke the silence and said, stacy, we love you. >> my whole world suddenly opened up. >> telling that first person was a big deal. after the first few people, i just started acting like it was everybody should know this.

>> this is who i am. >> i will never forget this. i opened the door, my dad is out there. he looks at me and says, i am so sorry if i ever said fag. >> my life now is great. >> i would have missed the first time being held by someone i love. loving, i would have missed experiencing the joy and jubilation of life. people who show me amazing new things all the time, new ways to think and look at the world. i never foresaw being a police officer. i thought it was something that i could not do. >> things keep getting better for me. >> it does get better. >> i will help you and i will protect you and i will listen. >> we are here to help make your transition as smooth as possible.

>> it does get better. >> oh, it gets better. >> so many people just like you. >> things start getting better as soon as you reach out to other people. >> you do not have to tolerate peoples in on acceptance of you. you just forge ahead and do what you love and it just gets better. >> nothing in life is worth harming yourself. nothing. if you give up trying, they have one. you cannot let them win. >> you just need to be you. >> you need to know that you are ok, you are beautiful. you are a person who has tremendous value. you have something to give. >> you are not alone. >> stop putting up with everyone's crap. just be yourself. >> people might talk about you, but it is all ok.

there is help out there. >> call the police because we will be there. it will get better. >> it gets way better. >> a lot better. >> it does get better. your life can be so full of love and amazing. special experiences and it gets so much better. [applause] >> if i could, can i get the stars of the show to stand up and take it out? -- take a bow? [applause] they talk about the courage of cops all the time. that took a lot of courage to do that. shawn,