On a chilly, foggy-shrouded Saturday morning at Palo Alto’s Baylands Nature Preserve, a circle of nearly 100 runners and walkers gathers in the parking lot. Some pass around lemons from their garden, others invite members to the next local drag show. Then, with a chorus of barking dogs and shuffling shoes, they stride down the levee trail just as they have every weekend since 1991.
The Baylands FrontRunners is a run and walk club primarily for members of the LGBTQ+ community. The clubs help to organize events to support LGBTQ+ charities and organizations. They are a part of the larger International Frontrunners organization, which has regional groups worldwide. Across the globe, there are over 100 regional clubs, and over half are in the United States.
Organizations like this one are very important in times like these. The Trump Administration is focused on rolling back rights for members of the LGBTQ+ community. In the first two months of Trump being in office, there were 17 anti-LGBTQ+ actions from the government.
Back then, Silicon Valley offered few public spaces where LGBTQ+ athletes could exercise openly. A handful of locals decided to change that, founding the Baylands FrontRunners as the Peninsula chapter of the global network of queer running clubs. In his late 70s, founding member Martin Yonke still jogs the same five-mile loop. He reflects on the purpose of the club.
“We wanted to create a safe space to run and be ourselves,” Yonke said.
The first meetups drew barely a dozen people to the Baylands Athletic Center. Acceptance was hardly guaranteed in the early 90s, Yonke recalled, but the club persisted and brought a basket of rainbow Baylands front-runner name tags to welcome anyone who showed up ready to move. By the mid-1990s, attendance began to gain momentum, picking up runners from across the bay.
“The club was [initially] important because we wanted to get medical benefits and stuff out of large Silicon Valley companies,” Yonke said. “And then the fight changed to gay marriage. We got all of this, and now they’re coming after LGBTQ people again.”
Although the Frontrunners are not a political organization, recent events have sharpened their mission. They are now fighting for the rights of the majority of their members.
Evie Kalmar, who is a member of the BayLand FrontRunners board, reflects on the results of these ever-changing times.
“One group that we’ve been focusing on, especially with members who are transgender, is gender minorities,” Kalmar said. “They are really under scrutiny and are being attacked by the Federal Administration. Trying to make sure that people feel welcome, included, and that they belong in our group, is something that we’ve been working on this past year.”
In times when people’s rights are being stripped right in front of their eyes, having a community to rely on is of utmost importance.
“It’s so important to always be around other people with similar identities, moral values, and similar interests,” Kalmar said. “I think that’s even more true during tumultuous times like these.”
The club’s commitment to giving back extends beyond running events and being an inclusive community. BayLand FrontRunners president, Rob Leasure, reminisces on club volunteers building a shaded pergola that sheltered picnickers near the park’s ranger station.
“We try and help our own community as well, as like participating in other races,” Leasure said.
This community service is not limited to this one event. Members fan out to help weed the invasive ice plant twice a year and collect windblown plastic along the tidal marsh.
“It’s about bringing people together who appreciate the same things, having fun and being fit at the same time,” said registrar Patrick Champagne. “The group is also inclusive of all, regardless of sexual orientation. We’re focused on LGBTQ+ [issues] but not limited to them.”
The club does not just try to raise money for local and national organizations for different causes. They also work to help individuals in the area.
“We’ve got, you know, a spons orship program for the youth if they want to come into the club,” Leasure said. “We’ll actually fund their membership for the year, and we’ll help them participate in some races in the Bay Area.”
The focus for the BayLand FrontRunners has been and will always be providing a safe space for the community’s people in any way they can.
“It’s incredible to be part of an intergenerational community in particular, and getting to know all of these individuals with different life stories who’ve been through so much, and kind of come together every Saturday and every week to run or walk,” Kalmar said.