In a series of short profiles, Capital Current introduces some of the people working hard to improve life in Ottawa.
Who is he?
Public servant by day, Tony Bus is a board member of Capital Pride and a partnerships co-ordinator at the Gay Ottawa Volleyball League. In these roles, he emphasizes the importance of communal networks and resources for queer people who do not have safe spaces.
What’s his background?
The second son of Vietnamese boat people, Bui has said he struggled with connecting to his Vietnamese heritage because to his father’s unexpected death. “I lost my father, and with him, my connection to his history,” he wrote for the CBC. But he did learn about his roots from his mother as well. He has written deeply personal first-person narratives for CBC and the Ottawa Citizen, chronicling his experience redefining what being Vietnamese and queer means to him.
What’s he known for in Ottawa?
Community and safe spaces: Bui strives to strengthen the meaning and value of community networks in Ottawa. Speaking about the volleyball league, he said, “we really want to provide a safe space to play inclusive sports. I speak for myself and a lot of other queer people, but sports, growing up, wasn’t necessarily a safe space, for a lot of reasons.”
Bui’s first-person narrative about what his áo dài (traditional Vietnamese festive wear) represents was his way of offering more positive Asian representation.
“The reason why I have really tried to have my voice out there is to show that Asian communities have resilience.”
He has also written about his experience seeing Asian representation in Hollywood. The movie “Everything, Everywhere, All at Once” was a pivotal moment for Bui. He says he saw Asian representation on screen that wasn’t typecast or stereotyped.
“You don’t really know how much representation means until you see it yourself,” Bui told Capital Current.
What do people say about him?
Bui says over the course of his work and writing, he has “received messages from people I’d never met before; I got an email from a fellow queer person that what I’d wrote spoke to them and gave them an incredible foundation.”
What’s a fun fact about him?
Bui and his team at the Gay Ottawa Volleyball plan to start a recreation program for younger queer folk, to provide a safe space for sporting and also to foster community. He hopes to skate the entirety of Rideau Canal this winter without falling “20 times” like he did in his first year living in Ottawa.
