QUEER BASH
Rubyyy Jones
Paris
QUEER BASH is Rubyyy Jones’ bold and tender response to the realities of being visibly Queer in a small rural town. Through micro-theatre, storytelling, and community gathering, the project created space for 2SLGBTQIA+ people to feel seen while also challenging allies to understand the nuance and weight of Queer experiences. The performances sparked meaningful conversation in Paris, Ontario and helped strengthen solidarity, visibility, and healing.
A Year of Rural Queer Resilience
Rubyyy Jones is originally from Paris, Ontario, but spent their formative adult years in London, England, fifteen years of moonlighting and headlining Queer performance stages across the UK and Europe before moving home in 2020. Leaving a vibrant, established, and strong Queer community for the unknown of rural Southwestern Ontario made Rubyyy immediately long for 2SLGBTQIA+ spaces.
In 2024, Rubyyy and their partner were targeted by transphobic violence, and this project grew directly from that experience. It reflected the complexity of traversing trauma, navigating small-town politics, and wanting to share the unfortunately common experiences of violence that the 2SLGBTQIA+ community faces regularly. QUEER BASH gives a voice to those who have experienced the violence of being alive and being out and proud, whether it is walking down the street wearing a Barbie t-shirt, being Queer in high school or in a 4H club, or the ways bodies contort through daily life.
The community—both wider and 2SLGBTQIA+—had a need for self-expression, space shared, understanding the nuances of violence, and the complexities of healing.
QUEER BASH created quite a stir in Paris. Many felt challenged and changed by the performances, the shared stories, and even the promotional campaign. In a small town, many of these responses happened through whispers and behind-closed-doors conversations, but there were also meaningful public responses from both audiences and participants.
Throughout the year, Rubyyy learned that community means different things to different people and that every community carries its own complexities. Working on performances and shows that were so close to their personal experience and the community’s shared trauma was tender and tough. Still, the project made people feel seen, making it meaningful.
The biggest challenges were logistical. Paris has no theatre, and many local venues that host live performances are not suitable for micro-theatre. Micro-theatre is a term coined by Rubyyy to represent an umbrella of solo disciplines, including Queer performance, dance, live art, drag, and musicians. The content is more evocative and emotive than typical nightlife entertainment. Helping audiences understand that this was not just a Drag show or a raucous night out was crucial for protecting the performers and their stories.
A significant partnership emerged when The Paris Wincey Mills Co. offered its historic building for two event dates. The space was transformed into a Queer micro-theatre and pop-up party venue, supporting the project in both visibility and infrastructure.
QUEER BASH will continue because the community needs it, and vibrant, vulnerable spaces are vital. The success of the 2025 events helped Rubyyy establish a small core audience and strengthen community connections that support 2SLGBTQIA+ visibility and the work of rural Queer artists.
As a leader, Rubyyy applied to the program to strengthen their civic and community-building skills. Coming from the UK, they had gaps in vocabulary, knowledge, and operations. The fellowship helped them understand and apply the qualities they describe as those of a Canadian leader: pragmatic, steady, understated, and personable. The process enabled them to pair this with their natural leadership style, which is bombastic, energetic, creative, and laser-focused. The ripple of their energy has multiplied in 2025. Talking about vulnerable experiences and sharing trauma is not always seen for the courageous act it is, but our community feedback revealed that it is, and it is welcome.
The experience reinforced the necessity of community spaces where emotions and experiences can be creatively shared, not just the easy or romantic ones but the stories that break us, wound us, and change who we are. These are the stories communities need to evolve.
Looking forward, Rubyyy envisions a dedicated 2SLGBTQIA+ space in downtown Paris. They imagine a medium-sized accessible venue that operates as a cheery Queer café during the daytime and a dynamic space in the evening, hosting events, workshops, parties, and meetings. In this future, QUEER BASH continues as a monthly gathering filled with big feels, small-town heart, and vibrant expression. Regular events could also become fundraisers for gender-affirming surgeries, local 2SLGBTQIA+ groups like Brant Pride, and other community causes. Rubyyy dreams of a world where every small town has a Queer-governed space, a place that invites joy, safety, and visibility.
nesAbout Rubyyy Jones
Rubyyy Jones is a performer, producer and provocateur specializing in micro-theatre, community energizing and arty innovation. QUEER BASH is an exploration of rural 2SLGBTQIA+ experiences through statistics, stories and showing off.
Instagram: @rubyyyjones @bigcityyyarts
Website: rubyyyjones
QUEER BASH in the News: Penticton Herald
#QueerBash2024 #SaveRubyyyJones #RuralQueers