“This kind of started back in the late ‘80s when just a few people kind of touted themselves as the Rubi Girls. They lived on Rubicon Street and they decided to put on little performances for each other with bed sheets and lampshades and whatnot. Then it started to become a big party where they would invite a bunch of people and say, ‘We’re going to put on a show tonight!’ These early shows were in the living room or the attic and, quickly, they began to outgrow that space because people were coming up onto the porch and watching from the windows and there wasn’t enough space in the living room anymore. When they started to outgrow that space, a bar said, ‘You know, I think we can make money on this, so we’ll give you the bar to do your show in.’”
Knowing of the Rubi Girls’ reputation as being one of the most prodigious fundraising groups for various non-profit organizations, I wondered how long it took before their philanthropic yearnings overcame the offers for personal earnings.
“The Rubi Girls decided that getting paid for doing this would alter the dynamic that they had going on where it was really just intended for fun, and so they decided that any money raised would go towards charity and so that’s where the charitable aspect of the group came along.”
Describing what type of charities, McNeal elaborated by saying, “There were a variety of charities over the years. They initially would send a team to the Gay Games and the Gay Bowling League and all varieties of LGBT-related causes, but then there became a focus on HIV and AIDS-related charities. We decided that it was time to refocus and so we said that anything that we did had to be tied in with HIV and AIDS-related causes, which also would include educational and outreach components.”
Read in full HERE.
And learn more about the Rubi Girls documentary HERE.
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