Cisco Mejia spends his nights managing seven gay nightclubs around the Bay Area and Pacific Northwest. And for as long as he can remember, he’s spent his Sundays watching the San Francisco 49ers.
The difference now is, he gets to follow his favorite team with hundreds of other out LGBTQ fans.
The 49ers launched their Pride Club in 2019, making them the first and only NFL team to boast an official fan club for the LGBTQ community. Last year, they took their support one step further, introducing a gender-neutral apparel line for Pride.
For Mejia, it’s a special feeling to know the Niners are on his side.
“It means a lot, because none of the other NFL teams have done anything like this, and the fact that an actual NFL team went on and did something like this — especially the 49ers, because they’re my team — is awesome,” he told Outsports.
The Pride Club holds events throughout the year, including watch parties. The next one will take place Oct. 9 when the 49ers take on the Panthers. Appropriately, it will be held in the Castro, San Francisco’s legendary gayborhood.
At those watch parties, Mejia is an active participant. In fact, it’s not uncommon to see him take out his DJ booth, and start spinning. Mejia DJ’d for the 49ers on their Pride float in 2019, and now has an established relationship with the organization (the 49ers actually have their own DJ squad, which is pretty awesome).
Mejia teams up with those DJs for Red Zone Rally, the 49ers’ all-inclusive pregame tailgate at Levi Stadium. After a pandemic-induced hiatus, the party is back this season.
On Wednesday, Mejia will DJ at the team’s annual Crucial Catch Fashion Show, where more than 20 players typically participate. Proceeds go towards supporting cancer survivors.
We talk all the time about the importance of supporting LGBTQ people outside of Pride Month. The same goes for booking gay super fan DJs for non-Pride events.
Mejia will keep answering as long as the Niners keep calling.
“I say this a lot: I’m very humbled,” he said. “ I consider myself to be very lucky, and the fact that they had me back in 2019, and just kept asking for more and more and more, it means the world to me. I’m living my dream.”
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