Special Initiatives

FRNY's It Gets Better video (2010)

To Russia with Love video (2014)

Over the years, Front Runners has been involved in several projects that looked to improve the lives of LGBT individuals and communities.  The first notable initiative is FRNY's involvement with the "It Gets Better" project (2010), which looked to communicate directly with gay youth by letting them know "it gets better."  FRNY created a video where several members of the club spoke personally about how their lives improved once they left their teenage years and moved into adulthood, aiming to provide hope to LGBT youth battling homophobia.  The "It Gets Better" project continues today at itgetsbetter.org.

Another notable special project was "To Russia With Love" (2014) which drew attention to the state-sponsored human rights abuses to the Russian LGBT community.  During the one-month period around the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia, FRNY members drew attention to these abuses and showed support for the Russian LGBT community by running the distance between New York City and Moscow.  During that month, 268 runners, walkers and swimmers logged 13,376 miles--more than three times the distance between those two cities.  129 of these athletes were non-FRNY members who joined in this show of support.

Curated by Anthony Cocciolo, 2015.