# But I'm a Cheerleader
**But I'm a Cheerleader** is a 1999 American satirical romantic comedy directed by Jamie Babbit, in which a teenager is forced to attend a residential course intended to alter her sexuality[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/but-im-a-cheerleader-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00otg0nte). [Natasha Lyonne](https://www.edgepedia.org/natasha-lyonne) plays Megan, a cheerleader whose parents send her to True Directions, a conversion therapy boot camp, where she meets the unashamed teen lesbian Graham ([Clea DuVall](https://www.edgepedia.org/clea-duvall)) and begins to fall in love with her[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader). Made as Babbit's feature debut, the film premiered at the [Toronto International Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/toronto-international-film-festival) in September 1999, received largely negative reviews on release, and has since become a cult classic of queer cinema[3](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/but-im-a-cheerleader-oral-history) • [4](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/im-cheerleader-1999/).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Director / debut | Jamie Babbit's first feature film[5](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F36%2F366a296f-360d-466f-aaca-0a149de6267e.pdf) |
| Release | Premiered at the Toronto Film Festival, September 1999; US theatrical release September 12, 1999[3](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/but-im-a-cheerleader-oral-history) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader) |
| Principal cast | Natasha Lyonne (Megan), Clea DuVall (Graham), Cathy Moriarty (Mary), RuPaul Charles (Mike), Mink Stole, Bud Cort, Melanie Lynskey[6](https://www.noahcowanfilm.com/lgbtq/but-im-a-cheerleader) |
| Rating history | Initially rated NC-17; scenes implying lesbian oral sex and masturbation were cut to obtain an R[7](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20240910-jamie-babbit-how-lesbian-comedy-but-im-a-cheerleader-became-a-cult-classic) |
| Reception | 43% Tomatometer from 92 reviews and 75% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes; Metascore 39 on Metacritic[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/but-im-a-cheerleader/critic-reviews/) |
| Box office | $2.2 million gross in the United States[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader) |
| Legacy | Named in the BFI's 2020 poll of the 30 Best LGBTQ+ Films of All Time; adapted as a stage musical in 2022[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/all-voters-votes-30-best-lgbt-films-all-time) • [10](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/but-i-m-a-cheerleader-review-turbine-theatre-musical-gay-b984351.html) |
## Spoilers
### Premise and plot
Megan Bloomfield considers herself a typical American girl: she excels in school and cheerleading and has a handsome football-playing boyfriend, though she is not that crazy about him[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader). Her parents, suspecting she is a lesbian, stage an intervention and send her to True Directions, a five-step rehabilitation camp meant to alter her sexual orientation[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader) • [11](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline37/but-im-a-cheerleader). The evidence presented against her includes eating tofu, having a [Melissa Etheridge](https://www.edgepedia.org/melissa-etheridge) poster, and disliking kissing her boyfriend[11](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline37/but-im-a-cheerleader).
At the camp, run by founder Mary ([Cathy Moriarty](https://www.edgepedia.org/cathy-moriarty)), teenagers are recalibrated through restrictive, Bible-approved gender roles[12](https://ktvz.com/entertainment/cnn-style/2024/06/28/is-this-too-far-how-the-queer-film-but-im-a-cheerleader-broke-boundaries-in-1999/). Mike, a "former gay" guidance counselor played by an out-of-drag RuPaul, leads the program[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader) • [11](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline37/but-im-a-cheerleader). Megan is a perfect student at the camp but does not believe she is gay, until she meets Graham, a rebellious tomboy, and starts to have feelings for her[11](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline37/but-im-a-cheerleader) • [2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader).
## Production
Babbit developed the project after meeting producer Andrea Sperling at the [Sundance Film Festival](https://www.edgepedia.org/sundance-film-festival) in January 1995, where both were working as volunteers; Sperling went on to produce the film with [Leanna Creel](https://www.edgepedia.org/leanna-creel)[3](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/but-im-a-cheerleader-oral-history) • [13](https://filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/summer1999/prod_update.php). The screenplay is by Brian Wayne Peterson, from a story by Babbit[6](https://www.noahcowanfilm.com/lgbtq/but-im-a-cheerleader). Babbit said her ambition was to make "a gay Clueless", and she had difficulty casting the film because agents and managers were telling actors to stay in the closet; Clea DuVall accepted the role of Graham despite her own and her manager's nervousness[7](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20240910-jamie-babbit-how-lesbian-comedy-but-im-a-cheerleader-became-a-cult-classic).
The film's look is deliberately artificial. Taking cues from the retro fantasy of [Tim Burton](https://www.edgepedia.org/tim-burton)'s *Edward Scissorhands* and the camp of [John Waters](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-waters), Babbit worked with costume designer Alix Friedberg and production designer Rachel Kamerman to create a plasticky, pink-and-blue world, with luridly feminine color schemes for the girls and hyper-masculine activities for the boys[12](https://ktvz.com/entertainment/cnn-style/2024/06/28/is-this-too-far-how-the-queer-film-but-im-a-cheerleader-broke-boundaries-in-1999/) • [11](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline37/but-im-a-cheerleader). Babbit has described the film as a trenchant takedown of conversion therapy, the practice of trying to change a person's sexual orientation or gender identity[7](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20240910-jamie-babbit-how-lesbian-comedy-but-im-a-cheerleader-became-a-cult-classic).
## Rating and release
The film was initially tagged with the NC-17 rating, which Babbit called commercial box-office poison, because of scenes implying lesbian oral sex and masturbation; she cut them to get an R, and later said the finished film was "literally PG"[7](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20240910-jamie-babbit-how-lesbian-comedy-but-im-a-cheerleader-became-a-cult-classic). Clea DuVall made the same point in a 2016 interview: "the ratings board gave us an NC-17, and it's the most tame movie"[14](https://time.com/4465725/clea-duvall/). The [British Board of Film Classification](https://www.edgepedia.org/british-board-of-film-classification) passed the film for UK cinema release in 2001 with a note that its discriminatory language occurs "in the context of a comedy which lampoons homophobia"[1](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/but-im-a-cheerleader-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00otg0nte).
*But I'm a Cheerleader* was distributed by [Lionsgate Films](https://www.edgepedia.org/lionsgate-films) and grossed $2.2 million in the United States[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader). It was Frameline24's Closing Night film in San Francisco[11](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline37/but-im-a-cheerleader).
## Reception
Initial mainstream critical response was mostly negative. The film holds a 43% Tomatometer on Rotten Tomatoes from 92 reviews, against a 75% audience score from more than 25,000 ratings, and a Metascore of 39 on Metacritic, in the "generally unfavorable" band[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/but-im-a-cheerleader/critic-reviews/). Roger Ebert, rating it 75, called it "not a great, breakout comedy, but more the kind of movie that might eventually become a regular on the midnight cult circuit"[15](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/but-im-a-cheerleader-2000). The Rotten Tomatoes critics consensus says the film is "too broad to make any real statements" but credits its charming cast and surprisingly emotional center[2](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader).
## Legacy
The film's standing has risen substantially since 1999. Starburst magazine describes it as an unsung gem "aeons ahead of its time, and a cornerstone for an entire genre of filmmaking"[4](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/im-cheerleader-1999/), and it placed in the BFI's 2020 poll of the 30 Best LGBTQ+ Films of All Time, where one voter called it "close to the heart of an entire queer generation"[9](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/all-voters-votes-30-best-lgbt-films-all-time). *Time* lists it as an essential part of the queer canon and a major contributor to Natasha Lyonne's status as a "straight gay icon"[16](https://time.com/6183107/lgbtq-movies-pride-month/).
Its influence runs through later work. MUNA's 2022 music video for "Silk Chiffon" pays homage to the film's cheerleading visuals, and *The Miseducation of Cameron Post* mirrored its concluding shot of teens bundling into the back of a truck[7](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20240910-jamie-babbit-how-lesbian-comedy-but-im-a-cheerleader-became-a-cult-classic). A stage musical adaptation, with music by Andrew Abrams and a book by Bill Augustin, opened at London's Turbine Theatre in 2022[10](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/but-i-m-a-cheerleader-review-turbine-theatre-musical-gay-b984351.html). The film has also circulated through restoration screenings, including a 4K presentation at the Academy Museum[17](https://www.academymuseum.org/en/programs/detail/but-im-a-cheerleader-019649d3-236c-635b-3e43-0009170b702a).
## References
1. [But I'm A Cheerleader, British Board of Film Classification](https://www.bbfc.co.uk/release/but-im-a-cheerleader-q29sbgvjdglvbjpwwc00otg0nte)
2. [But I'm a Cheerleader, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/but_im_a_cheerleader)
3. ["Wow, This Is So Gay": An Oral History of But I'm a Cheerleader, Vanity Fair](https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/story/but-im-a-cheerleader-oral-history)
4. [But I'm a Cheerleader (1999), Starburst Magazine](https://www.starburstmagazine.com/reviews/im-cheerleader-1999/)
5. [About the Director: Jamie Babbit, press kit](https://s3.amazonaws.com/cdn.filmtrackonline.com/mongrelmedia/starcm_vault_root/images%2Ffiles%2F36%2F366a296f-360d-466f-aaca-0a149de6267e.pdf)
6. [But I'm a Cheerleader, Toronto International Film Festival Program Guide 1999](https://www.noahcowanfilm.com/lgbtq/but-im-a-cheerleader)
7. ['I wanted to make a gay Clueless': Jamie Babbit on how her lesbian comedy became a cult classic, BBC Culture](https://bbc.com.im/culture/article/20240910-jamie-babbit-how-lesbian-comedy-but-im-a-cheerleader-became-a-cult-classic)
8. [But I'm a Cheerleader critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/but-im-a-cheerleader/critic-reviews/)
9. [All voters and votes: The 30 Best LGBTQ+ Films of All Time, BFI](https://www.bfi.org.uk/lists/all-voters-votes-30-best-lgbt-films-all-time)
10. [But I'm a Cheerleader review: Turbine Theatre musical, The Standard](https://www.standard.co.uk/culture/theatre/but-i-m-a-cheerleader-review-turbine-theatre-musical-gay-b984351.html)
11. [But I'm a Cheerleader, Frameline](https://www.frameline.org/films/frameline37/but-im-a-cheerleader)
12. ['Is this too far?': How the queer film But I'm a Cheerleader broke boundaries in 1999, KTVZ/CNN](https://ktvz.com/entertainment/cnn-style/2024/06/28/is-this-too-far-how-the-queer-film-but-im-a-cheerleader-broke-boundaries-in-1999/)
13. [Production Update, Filmmaker Magazine, Summer 1999](https://filmmakermagazine.com/archives/issues/summer1999/prod_update.php)
14. [Quick Talk with Clea DuVall, Time](https://time.com/4465725/clea-duvall/)
15. [But I'm a Cheerleader movie review, RogerEbert.com](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/but-im-a-cheerleader-2000)
16. [16 LGBTQ Movies to Watch This Pride Month, Time](https://time.com/6183107/lgbtq-movies-pride-month/)
17. [But I'm a Cheerleader in 4K, Academy Museum](https://www.academymuseum.org/en/programs/detail/but-im-a-cheerleader-019649d3-236c-635b-3e43-0009170b702a)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1995 to 1999 › Black and satirical comedies › Released in 1999*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license