Cheer SF was formed by Guy Andrade in 1980 as the first professional, LGBT-identified cheer leading team in history. The team was originally known as the “Hayward Raw Rahs but in 1996 the team became known as CHEER San Francisco. The program become a huge hit instantly and from then on the team traveled has now traveled across the state of California, around the country and even around the wold to showcase their style of performance and athleticism unique to CHEER SF.
CHEER SF is distinguished as the only cheer leading team to have appeared at all eight Gay Games
Today, CHEER SF is history-in-the-making as they continue to pave new paths and benchmarks for themselves. Their athleticism, teamwork and esprit de corps has earned them a reputation of respect and admiration amongst the collegiate cheer squads in the region with whom they participate at annual cheer camps. They have gone from pursuing performance opportunities to being sought-after as featured performers at large scale events, including professional sporting organizations, and sponsors have begun to take notice of the incredible marketing opportunities arising from CHEER SF’s amazing popularity.
In 2000 CHEER SF became the first and only partner organization of the Lesbian and Gay Bands Association following over ten years of performing at events across the country and internationally with the wonderful musicians who make up LGBA.
Few Achievements
-Largest, most seen, most fiscally successful and longest-running community-based, non-profit, adult cheerleading team in the world.
-First and LGBT identified cheerleading team to be invited to and perform at a US Presidential Inauguration.
-Recipent of the first 2 team gold medals for cheerleading in Gay Games history.
Throughout the semester we have learned various ways of which transpeople feel they have no place of recognition, belonging, community, etc. We have also discussed forms of resistance and the effects from their gender identity. I was hoping to find an organization that had specifically focused on people of color since the reading for today’s class is “Performance as Intravention: Ballroom Culture and the Politics of HIV/AIDS in Detroit,” but the reading does discuss a form of community and in the reading Bailey discusses the importance of community and belonging to an organization and it gives them “another means through which image and status are formed and repaired.” This is how I related CHEER SF back to the class reading. CHEER SF not only performs and competes at cheer competition, but because their history and known as LGBT identified team, they also raise awareness (such as HIV/AIDS) within the bay area and else where. Bailey’s states that communities at risk, such as AIDS, need various ways of intravention. And in support, community groups such as the ballroom culture in Detroit helps with this intravention of awareness.
Upcoming Event
Park Day School LGBTQ Pride Day
May 16, 2014
360 42nd St
Oakland, CA
CheerSF is thrilled to be invited to perform at the opening assembly for Park Day School’s annual LGBTQ Pride Day. Park Day is a K-8 progressive school with a mission that focuses on a commitment to diversity and social justice. Park Day prepares students to be informed, courageous, and compassionate people who shape a more equitable and sustainable world. CheerSF is honored to bring our support of diversity and inclusion to Park Day’s celebration to all children at the school struggling with coming out, gender identity and other LGBTQ issues.
– See more at: http://www.cheersf.org/events/park-day-school-lgbtq-pride-day#sthash.ON5apnXj.dpuf
Gay Day at Great America
May 23, 2014
Santa Clara, CA
Santa Cruz Pride
Jun 01, 2014
Santa Cruz, CA
Website: http://www.cheersf.org/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CHEERSanFrancisco
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/CHEERSanFrancisco
WGS 552: Transgender Identities & Communities 
After watching your presentation on CheerSF and learning more about who they are and what they do, I can see how well it relates to the article read by Morgan Bassichis, Alexander Lee and Dean Spade entitled, Building an abolitionist Trans and Queer Movement with everything we’ve got. The battle is being waged against and a movement is happening because of organizations like Cheer SF. According to the article, “ Despite the powerful and destructive impacts that the renewed forces of neoliberal globalization and the “New World Order” have had on our communities and our social movements, there are and always have been radical politics and movements to challenge the exploitation that the United States is founded upon. These politics have been developed in communities of color and in poor and working-class, immigrant, queer, disability, and feminist communities in both “colonized: and “colonizing” nations, from the Black Panther Party in Oakland to the Zapatistas in Chiapas to the Audre Lorde Project in New York (P. 660).” What is being said by this quote is that the fight has been growing and the movement has been going on by the people who are most effected by the issues, as we discussed in class the other day, this organizations need the people who are being effected the most o be the leaders of this organizations and we must start small and move our way up for this movement to be effective. It’s the people that are most effected that understand the problem and understand the solution that the community wants, CheerSF is just another way of expressing the issue through a form of Cheerleading. It’s a way of community activism especially with the fact that cheerleading is seen as very feminine, CheerSF doesn’t follow social stigmas or gender norms, and it breaks out of them. This idea is very similar to Ballroom Culture as discussed in the article, Performance as Intravention: Ballroom culture and the politics of HIV/AIDS in Detroit. What Marlon Bailey does is discuss how Ballroom Culture benefits those involved in it, what he does is states the benefits of Ballroom Culture, for example, “flamboyant competitive ball rituals and houses, and the anchoring family-like structures that produce the rituals of performance. Ballroom subjectivities and familial roles are based on egalitarian gender/sexual identity system that offers more gender and sexual identities from which to choose than available to members in the “outside” world (P. 632-634.)” He also discusses the kinship and social support that ballroom culture offers, which can be easily related to the kinship and social support, provided by CheerSF. CheerSF is a tight-knit community of people who have a similar goal and work together to achieve that goal through support of one another and kinship as well as community organizing.