"Until it gets better, I will help you, and I will protect you, and I will listen." Words all kids should hear. Congrats SFPD for this piece...very powerful.
As adults, as gay people, far too often our experiences with the police force us to view them as adversaries. This is wonderful. I was raised to believe them to be protectors & would love seeing the SFPD taking that role in the community to be strong leaders and someone we can rely on....
@cutterx2202 The entire video was shot, edited and directed for free of charge. Some things, like young people's lives, are more important than money, anyway. Thanks for your concern!
My heartfelt thanks go out to each and every officer who participated in the making of this video, as well as to each and every officer who has provided security during an LGBT protest in San Francisco since I moved here three years ago. You guys are doing an amazing job.
im 31 and i work at an indian casino in california as a security offiicer. i am out to some people at work and i will come out to the others when im ready. i love having these people around me who treat me as equals and we hang out on our days off, i go out clubbing with my gay friends. I LOVE BEING GAY!!!!!!!!! being gay brings SO MANY new adventures than if i was straight. i love seeing this video from REAL police officers and the rest of the law enforcement community. IT GETS BETTER!!!!!
i wish the law enforcement in the uk were this open and genuine,there is so much stigma,unnecessary stigma, thank you sfpd, i will be showing collegues
This is by far my favorite It Gets Better video. I'm a gay police explorer. I'm out, but not to my post. My post and the agency don't seem very supportive. Hopefully we'll come to a point where they will.
Thank you to Mayor Lee, Chief Sur, and the entire SFPD for this video. While I am a straight male, I've also been bullied, including being called 'fag,' 'homo,' and other homophobic slurs. Thank you to San Francisco's finest for this wonderful, uplifting, and inspiring video.
I appreciate the respect that's being presented here by the SFPD. We, the audience, do get a certain feel like they actually care. That being said, there have been some moments where I felt they were insensitive in which my brother and I never received a response or an apology. Maybe this video will serve as closure for us, but I can't help but to still distrust the SFPD with my personal experience. On the other hand, I don't want to detract the attempt here with my anecdotal experience.
This is awesome... Now we just need the rest of the world to follow in there footsteps. And stop hating on the LGBT. We are people and we just want the same rights as everyone else in the world.
I was born just outside of San Francisco, in Walnut Creek. I am so proud of these people. Thank you for all you do! EVERYONE SHOULD STRIVE TO BE MORE ACCEPTING AND LOVING!
As a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, I salute SFPD. This video is awesome! Far and away the best It Gets Better video I have ever seen. I hope ten's of thousands of LGBT youth are able to see this because it truly does get better! Thank you SFPD for standing proud! I may even start using this video in our Diversity Training at the LASD academy!
Very nice. I love this kind of stuff: people being bold. speaking out, and feeling comfortable with who they are. Damn this was great to watch. I'm going to watch it one more time. Maybe a couple more times.
This is a very beautiful and moving video. Thanks to all the courageous LGBT officers who made it happen. You will change lives for the better with this video. Please lets get this seen. PASS IT ON Truely a great message of hope and love from San Francisco's finest! BRAVO !!!!
FABULOUS - WONDERFUL! Thanks to all of these strong beautiful people for sharing their stories. This is the message that should be in everyone's inbox!
Thank you for posting this, I'm out and everything but I'm one of 3 kids at my school who is lgbt, so thanks for reminding me that even though times get hard, it's not the end of the world.
Great video. I have wanted to go to San Francisco ever since the days of the late great Harvey Milk. Now I want to go even more! Love from Bristol, England xx
I'm on a mission. I'm going to keep watching this video, over and over, until I can make it to the end without getting choked up and teary-eyed. This is so touching.
@NovaFur Just do it! Do not let them bring you down. Stay strong and know that it does get better...much better. I know that from personal experience. Whenever you feel alone and frustrated again.....just watch this video. You are not alone. Hugs!
@sanfrancisoPD I don't know if you can share this information with me or not, but at around 2:14, is the Officer that appears happen to be Officer Youngblood? (I think that was his name.) During the Youth Empowerment Summit hosted by the Gay-Straight Alliance Network in San Francisco, we had two SFPD Officers come down, and that looks a lot like the one I saw.
@RobertEmery Video, There was no disrespect meant, I was discussing the images that were available when I was growing up, images that were meant to disparage and ridicule LGBT peoples. This was not intended to be negative. Times and people change. We have come so far and it because of those changes that GLBT are everywhere in all kinds of occupations. I apologize for any offense taken.
As soon as it started, I was tearing up, and by the end, i was balling... thank you for giving everyone in the LGBT community hope again. and again, thank you all so much, i just cant express how much it meant to me, to see that video....
As a 42-year-old high school teacher, I feel so fortunate to see how much better things have become for all of us who are different and love the fact that a solid majority of my students do not understand why anyone would even care that I am gay. Still, I am overwhelmed every time I see a video like this and am grateful that the SFPD launched this video. Let me assure you that you cannot overestimate the importance of your testimonials to young people.
Yet another reason why I have chosen this amazing place to live and call home! Thank you, Chief Suhr, and the courageous men and women of the San Francisco Police Department. Shawn North, your telling of their stories was beyond beautiful -- you are so talented! It definitely gets better -- as a matter of fact, it gets fabulous! San Francisco, you are the best!
The men and women of the San Franciso police department risk their lives every day for the saftey of others, please let this video just go on and be seen by more than just 18,078 people.. spread the word and make the world a BETTER place.
Coming from a law enforcement family and being a law enforcement explorer I really appreciate this video. It's nice to see other LGBT law enforcement people out there, hopefully other agencies will see this video and make their own too.
Thank you, officers. If these were around when I was a kid, I suspect I'd have had a much better life. And good on you for helping make the world a better place for LGBT kids growing up today. Thank you.
Equal rights is still an ongoing battle but if you look at society compared to how it was just 10 years ago you can tell, slowly but surely it is getting better.
@SFRWood The video was done for free. The director, who also edited and shot the video, gave his time for free over a six month process. This would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars of Mr. Northcutt had charged market rates.
This is a wonderfully affirmative video. The relationship between the San Francisco Police Department and the gay community has evolved greatly over the last three decades, catalyzed by the influx of understanding, compassionate people who personally faced social injustice before, but have now rightfully earned their positions in public office and law enforcement to make the City a better place for all. Congratulations on being the first police department to take a firm stand in this campaign!
Hopefully my parent's homophobic police department gets a hold of of this video and it changes a few opinions around there so they stop trying to destroy a career. Seeing that there is tolerance and understanding out there in the corners of a male-dominated, somewhat conservative workplace gives me a bit more hope.
@DsOwAn Whoops, you're right, got my terms mixed up. As someone who is in the LGBT community and done some research into health inequalities of LGBT persons, I should have my vocabulary down :P Still, the statement stands that the officer mentioned on the video is likely a transsexual, and neither a transvestite nor a hermaphrodite.
It terms of a video it doesn't get any better than this. I had a difficult first 20 years but my life began to get better, so much better. I can look back now and be proud of myself for surviving what I thought was un-survivable. Thank you so much.
Listen to me carefully! I really appreciate all the officers and SFPD personnel involved in this video. I thank them! It is just amazing to me that 90% of this people are perceived to be white!... I am really upset by the poor work of the producers that were not able to paint a true representation of the police community in San Francisco and the people they deal with on a daily basis…!
Thank you SFPD for doing this video. Young people grow up with enough stress as is, without the added stress of being LGBT and having to justify ourselves to everyone.
Kudos, SFPD. This is what the community needs from the police. Courage and Empathy. To serve and protect. Everyone. To be Gay is to be Normal. If you believe in God, God created our biology and some people are Gay and some people are Straight. It's all good. Thank you.
Thank you for this video. I'm a 17 year old transgender and I recently got out of being bullied just this year. After 5 years. I have attempted to take my life, but something would always snap me back into reality, like the voice in the back of my mind said it'd get better, don't do it. So I didn't. I still live in a mix community but I found friends that love me for who I am. Your video made me gain back that attitude that things will get better for me later on. Thank you, officers.
This video was designed to address one aspect of bullying, not all possible ways in which a person can be bullied. It's always good to light a candle in the darkness, even if it doesn't light up the entire room.
This video is so powerful! Wonderful message SFPD!!! I hope someday the rest of the nation gets the chance to show their love the way my husband and I can. It's not fair that we had the opportunity to marry and openly love, but LGBT still don't. I can't wait till they can!!!
@cutterx2202 - if I lived in a city where young Christians were specially targeted for bullying and hate crimes, then I would want my police department to address that need. The police are there to prevent and regress crime; in your view, they apparently shouldn't ever deal with the cultural causes of those crimes. I'm a San Franciscan, and I'm proud that my city tries to look beyond that. Yeah, it probably was done with a couple thousand bucks of city money. So be it.
*sniff* Now I wanna move to San Francisco too. I don't even like cities and Santa Cruz is too big for me! Thank you and ill be sharing this video with my classmates.
Thank you so much for making this video. You will help so many people. Hopefully this generation will be open to accepting individuals for who they are. Red, yellow, black, and white, gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender. We all bleed the same red. Thank you SFPD
@DrkFrdric Me, too. I watched it twice. Same thing both times. This is a lovely, courageous, hopeful and uplifting video. Thank you SFPD. I'm passing this one around.
Thank you so much for making this video. You will help so many people. Hopefully this generation will be open to accepting individuals for who they are. Red, yellow, black, and white, gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender. We all bleed the same red. Thank you SFPD. i would also like to add people with physical, emotional, mental disabilities.
This is amazingly touching and positive video to have made. I wish more people in the world were as brilliant as these officers and law enforcement professionals.
@xrtech1 no, trans'vestite' (like vest, or vestir in spanish, to wear) means someone who wears clothes that typically are worn by the other gender. a transexual is someone who goes through a surgical gender change.
As if I really needed yet another reason to love the SFPD. What an amazing, beautiful video. Thank You Chief Suhr and Thank You SFPD. I truly love you guys. Be Safe Out There!
So much respect for the people behind this video! Amazing... Thank you; from everyone, especially those that are currently too afraid to thank you publicly!
"Until it gets better, I will help you, and I will protect you, and I will listen." Words all kids should hear. Congrats SFPD for this piece...very powerful.
As adults, as gay people, far too often our experiences with the police force us to view them as adversaries. This is wonderful. I was raised to believe them to be protectors & would love seeing the SFPD taking that role in the community to be strong leaders and someone we can rely on....
@cutterx2202 The entire video was shot, edited and directed for free of charge. Some things, like young people's lives, are more important than money, anyway. Thanks for your concern!
The quote that they have on San Francisco's Police Badge is really neat. Here's a translation of it. "Gold in peace, Steel in war."
My heartfelt thanks go out to each and every officer who participated in the making of this video, as well as to each and every officer who has provided security during an LGBT protest in San Francisco since I moved here three years ago. You guys are doing an amazing job.
I'm straight, but this video makes me a little happier about living on this planet. Awesome.
im 31 and i work at an indian casino in california as a security offiicer. i am out to some people at work and i will come out to the others when im ready. i love having these people around me who treat me as equals and we hang out on our days off, i go out clubbing with my gay friends. I LOVE BEING GAY!!!!!!!!! being gay brings SO MANY new adventures than if i was straight. i love seeing this video from REAL police officers and the rest of the law enforcement community. IT GETS BETTER!!!!!
i wish the law enforcement in the uk were this open and genuine,there is so much stigma,unnecessary stigma, thank you sfpd, i will be showing collegues
This is by far my favorite It Gets Better video. I'm a gay police explorer. I'm out, but not to my post. My post and the agency don't seem very supportive. Hopefully we'll come to a point where they will.
I had no idea the department was even putting this together...well done! Brought a tear to my eyes! Thanks Chief!
I appreciate that LGB and T was represented, thanks to those who took part in the video
Thank you to Mayor Lee, Chief Sur, and the entire SFPD for this video. While I am a straight male, I've also been bullied, including being called 'fag,' 'homo,' and other homophobic slurs. Thank you to San Francisco's finest for this wonderful, uplifting, and inspiring video.
I appreciate the respect that's being presented here by the SFPD. We, the audience, do get a certain feel like they actually care. That being said, there have been some moments where I felt they were insensitive in which my brother and I never received a response or an apology. Maybe this video will serve as closure for us, but I can't help but to still distrust the SFPD with my personal experience. On the other hand, I don't want to detract the attempt here with my anecdotal experience.
This is awesome... Now we just need the rest of the world to follow in there footsteps. And stop hating on the LGBT. We are people and we just want the same rights as everyone else in the world.
I was born just outside of San Francisco, in Walnut Creek. I am so proud of these people. Thank you for all you do! EVERYONE SHOULD STRIVE TO BE MORE ACCEPTING AND LOVING!
I always knew San Fran was a great city. Even though I'm a straight person, this was wonderful.
Thank you, SFPD for making this video! FYI, you need to fix the number for the TREVOR help line. It's 866-4-U-TREVOR not 886-4-U-TREVOR
This should be the absolute point of pride for the department. So moving.
Beautiful. Honest. Every school should give their students and opportunity to witness this courageous outpouring of concern.
As a sergeant with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department, I salute SFPD. This video is awesome! Far and away the best It Gets Better video I have ever seen. I hope ten's of thousands of LGBT youth are able to see this because it truly does get better! Thank you SFPD for standing proud! I may even start using this video in our Diversity Training at the LASD academy!
Very nice. I love this kind of stuff: people being bold. speaking out, and feeling comfortable with who they are. Damn this was great to watch. I'm going to watch it one more time. Maybe a couple more times.
This is a very beautiful and moving video. Thanks to all the courageous LGBT officers who made it happen. You will change lives for the better with this video. Please lets get this seen. PASS IT ON Truely a great message of hope and love from San Francisco's finest! BRAVO !!!!
FABULOUS - WONDERFUL! Thanks to all of these strong beautiful people for sharing their stories. This is the message that should be in everyone's inbox!
Thank you all for sharing -- you seem like beautiful individuals, each of you. Great job on the editing, too.
I am so proud to be a San Franciscan.. :)
Thank you. My niece is gay and I am so thankful that there are places with this kind of sensitivity in our world.
This is an awesome video. BRAVO to the SFPD for taking a stand and making something happen to help others. Good job.
A very moving video from a fellow officer in the UK.
Thank you for posting this, I'm out and everything but I'm one of 3 kids at my school who is lgbt, so thanks for reminding me that even though times get hard, it's not the end of the world.
Great video. I have wanted to go to San Francisco ever since the days of the late great Harvey Milk. Now I want to go even more! Love from Bristol, England xx
I'm on a mission. I'm going to keep watching this video, over and over, until I can make it to the end without getting choked up and teary-eyed. This is so touching.
Wonderful video! I love the story of the Dad who apologized if he ever said "Fag." Thank you for perpetuating the message that it does get better.
Thank you ALL for doing this!
Thank you guys.
This is awesome. As a former officer for a bay area force, I'm proud of SFPD and can't imagine living anywhere else but the city! Way to go SFPD!
I just wanted to say thank you, for everything.
@NovaFur Just do it! Do not let them bring you down. Stay strong and know that it does get better...much better. I know that from personal experience. Whenever you feel alone and frustrated again.....just watch this video. You are not alone. Hugs!
You are ALL beautiful people!! Thank you for being so brave AND for serving the fine city of SF!!
This is amazing. Thank you so much for standing up for young people in your community and beyond.
yes! gay police officers proving that gay men can be tough too!
@sanfrancisoPD I don't know if you can share this information with me or not, but at around 2:14, is the Officer that appears happen to be Officer Youngblood? (I think that was his name.)
During the Youth Empowerment Summit hosted by the Gay-Straight Alliance Network in San Francisco, we had two SFPD Officers come down, and that looks a lot like the one I saw.
@RobertEmery Video, There was no disrespect meant, I was discussing the images that were available when I was growing up, images that were meant to disparage and ridicule LGBT peoples. This was not intended to be negative. Times and people change. We have come so far and it because of those changes that GLBT are everywhere in all kinds of occupations. I apologize for any offense taken.
As soon as it started, I was tearing up, and by the end, i was balling... thank you for giving everyone in the LGBT community hope again. and again, thank you all so much, i just cant express how much it meant to me, to see that video....
As a 42-year-old high school teacher, I feel so fortunate to see how much better things have become for all of us who are different and love the fact that a solid majority of my students do not understand why anyone would even care that I am gay. Still, I am overwhelmed every time I see a video like this and am grateful that the SFPD launched this video. Let me assure you that you cannot overestimate the importance of your testimonials to young people.
I don't want to be around either , breathing is hard most days, alone doesn't begin to describe it.
What a moving video! I have a new level of "respect" for my friends in the SFPD. Highest congrats for everyone.
This is so much better than the UC Davis PD version, which just pepper sprays the viewer.
Yet another reason why I have chosen this amazing place to live and call home! Thank you, Chief Suhr, and the courageous men and women of the San Francisco Police Department. Shawn North, your telling of their stories was beyond beautiful -- you are so talented! It definitely gets better -- as a matter of fact, it gets fabulous! San Francisco, you are the best!
The men and women of the San Franciso police department risk their lives every day for the saftey of others, please let this video just go on and be seen by more than just 18,078 people.. spread the word and make the world a BETTER place.
Coming from a law enforcement family and being a law enforcement explorer I really appreciate this video. It's nice to see other LGBT law enforcement people out there, hopefully other agencies will see this video and make their own too.
Thank you, officers. If these were around when I was a kid, I suspect I'd have had a much better life.
And good on you for helping make the world a better place for LGBT kids growing up today.
Thank you.
Equal rights is still an ongoing battle but if you look at society compared to how it was just 10 years ago you can tell, slowly but surely it is getting better.
@SFRWood The video was done for free. The director, who also edited and shot the video, gave his time for free over a six month process. This would have been in the tens of thousands of dollars of Mr. Northcutt had charged market rates.
" I am so proud of the San Francisco police department. "
This is a wonderfully affirmative video. The relationship between the San Francisco Police Department and the gay community has evolved greatly over the last three decades, catalyzed by the influx of understanding, compassionate people who personally faced social injustice before, but have now rightfully earned their positions in public office and law enforcement to make the City a better place for all. Congratulations on being the first police department to take a firm stand in this campaign!
Thanks, folks. I wish this positive attitude were more common. It needs to get better for all of us: gay, straight, in between; adults or youth.
Hopefully my parent's homophobic police department gets a hold of of this video and it changes a few opinions around there so they stop trying to destroy a career. Seeing that there is tolerance and understanding out there in the corners of a male-dominated, somewhat conservative workplace gives me a bit more hope.
Beautifully done, and you are all so brave. Thank you all.
@DsOwAn Whoops, you're right, got my terms mixed up. As someone who is in the LGBT community and done some research into health inequalities of LGBT persons, I should have my vocabulary down :P
Still, the statement stands that the officer mentioned on the video is likely a transsexual, and neither a transvestite nor a hermaphrodite.
It terms of a video it doesn't get any better than this. I had a difficult first 20 years but my life began to get better, so much better. I can look back now and be proud of myself for surviving what I thought was un-survivable. Thank you so much.
Listen to me carefully!
I really appreciate all the officers and SFPD personnel involved in this video.
I thank them!
It is just amazing to me that 90% of this people are perceived to be white!... I am really upset by the poor work of the producers that were not able to paint a true representation of the police community in San Francisco and the people they deal with on a daily basis…!
Thank you SFPD for doing this video. Young people grow up with enough stress as is, without the added stress of being LGBT and having to justify ourselves to everyone.
Kudos, SFPD. This is what the community needs from the police. Courage and Empathy. To serve and protect. Everyone. To be Gay is to be Normal. If you believe in God, God created our biology and some people are Gay and some people are Straight. It's all good. Thank you.
This RULES. All hail the SFPD.
Thank you for this video. I'm a 17 year old transgender and I recently got out of being bullied just this year. After 5 years. I have attempted to take my life, but something would always snap me back into reality, like the voice in the back of my mind said it'd get better, don't do it. So I didn't. I still live in a mix community but I found friends that love me for who I am. Your video made me gain back that attitude that things will get better for me later on. Thank you, officers.
This is a great step for law enforcement and I hope other agencies follow their lead. Great job San Francisco! :)
Incredibly proud of my coworkers right now!
This video was designed to address one aspect of bullying, not all possible ways in which a person can be bullied. It's always good to light a candle in the darkness, even if it doesn't light up the entire room.
I wanna move to San Francisco!
I am proud being San Franciscan, now. Thank you for showing a good example.
as a very straight dude, i have to say - this is just fantastic!
I am so proud to work everyday with some of the people in this video and to call them my friends it does get better we are all proof!
I have so much respect for the SFPD right now.
This video is so powerful! Wonderful message SFPD!!! I hope someday the rest of the nation gets the chance to show their love the way my husband and I can. It's not fair that we had the opportunity to marry and openly love, but LGBT still don't. I can't wait till they can!!!
great video - Mahalo to the many SFPD members who participated - many are old pals from back when we lived in SF - Aloha from Dan & Tom in Kailua-Kona
Thank you, Proud of my City, and the SFPD.
@cutterx2202 - if I lived in a city where young Christians were specially targeted for bullying and hate crimes, then I would want my police department to address that need. The police are there to prevent and regress crime; in your view, they apparently shouldn't ever deal with the cultural causes of those crimes. I'm a San Franciscan, and I'm proud that my city tries to look beyond that. Yeah, it probably was done with a couple thousand bucks of city money. So be it.
So proud of my city... You are all amazing!
*sniff* Now I wanna move to San Francisco too. I don't even like cities and Santa Cruz is too big for me! Thank you and ill be sharing this video with my classmates.
This was beautiful. This world really is wonderful! You just have to look in the right places...
@cutterx2202 This is a public safety issue, well within the SFPD's baliwick IMNSHO.
As a transgender EMT, let me just simply say thank you for this.
THANK YOU for this sharing. You are courageous and beautiful role models for our youth! Bless you all for doing this!
OMG! Love this! What an excellent video. I wish other cities would follow suit,and help get the message out there.Difference is beautiful!
@Magnetlarry aw man, me too, and i don't cry from stuff like this, it was the end that got me. it was so genuine, so pure.
Thank you so much for making this video. You will help so many people. Hopefully this generation will be open to accepting individuals for who they are. Red, yellow, black, and white, gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender. We all bleed the same red. Thank you SFPD
@DrkFrdric Me, too. I watched it twice. Same thing both times. This is a lovely, courageous, hopeful and uplifting video. Thank you SFPD. I'm passing this one around.
A wonderful video!
Thank you so much for making this video. You will help so many people. Hopefully this generation will be open to accepting individuals for who they are. Red, yellow, black, and white, gay, straight, bisexual, or transgender. We all bleed the same red. Thank you SFPD. i would also like to add people with physical, emotional, mental disabilities.
This is amazingly touching and positive video to have made. I wish more people in the world were as brilliant as these officers and law enforcement professionals.
This video has a powerful message, for youth and adults. It does get better. It's your life.There is no shame about being how you are.
..must...move to SF now...and apply to SF PD.....I love this video...Thank you SFPD!
@hazingjosh I agree! that is so true. A LOT of kids get bullied that ARNT gay
This is awesome. Thanks to the city of SF and the SFPD.
@xrtech1 no, trans'vestite' (like vest, or vestir in spanish, to wear) means someone who wears clothes that typically are worn by the other gender. a transexual is someone who goes through a surgical gender change.
As if I really needed yet another reason to love the SFPD. What an amazing, beautiful video. Thank You Chief Suhr and Thank You SFPD. I truly love you guys. Be Safe Out There!
Makes me proud to call San Francisco home.
Thank all of you for doing this video our teens need to see there is help out there
Bless each of you. Thank you so much for your courage and compassion and commitment in doing this. Amazing and so very needed.
So much respect for the people behind this video! Amazing... Thank you; from everyone, especially those that are currently too afraid to thank you publicly!