1980
CHEER San Francisco, the world’s first LGBTQ-identified cheerleading team, was founded.
1997
DC Cheer was founded by Robert York, using Results Gym as the home base for the co-ed cheer program. The team halted in 2001.
Early 2000s
Marc Brooks and Greg O’Brien joined another iteration, this time called “Cheer DC.” The team never fully formalized into a nonprofit organization and, after a few years, team operations halted once again.
Nicole Bowns joins Cheer Seattle.
2015
Nicole Bowns moved to the DC metro area and promptly began recruiting individuals to begin the team anew.
2016
With the help of Greg and Marc, and newcomers Brandi Arnett, Harriet Dao, Carrie Delone, Andy Jackson, and Luke Jackson, Nicole established the core of the new team, and Cheer DC hosted a tryout with more than 40 attendees. Shortly thereafter, Cheer DC was established as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization, and joined the Pride Cheerleading Association as a member team.
2017
Robert reconnected with Nicole and joined the new Cheer DC. Cheer DC presented its first major annual donation of $5000 to SMYAL.
2018
2019
Cheer DC presented its second annual donation of $10,000 to the Wanda Alston Foundation.
After several months of a very active season, our team operations shifted to a virtual model in March of 2020 due to COVID-19. Despite the major shift in operations, the donations collected throughout the year combined with the proceeds from the team’s first ever virtual drag show allowed the team to once again present $10,000 to the Wanda Alston Foundation.
2020
What was hoped to be a temporary change to the virtual setting ended up lasting more than a year. While in-person activities were halted, however, Cheer DC actively kept up its virtual engagement, both among internal team members and with the community, continuing to raise funds through virtual events. The entirely virtual 2020-2021 season ended with a $4,500 donation to Casa Ruby.
2021
2022
After around a year and a half of operating virtually, Cheer DC was excited to return to in-person practices & performances for the 2021-2022 season perform at its first Capital Pride since 2019.