Attendance at Tarab averages about 100 per event, Makhay said. But among an estimated 3.5 million Arab-Americans, they can find themselves isolated. It's not clear how many LGBT Arab-Americans there are. A handful of parties are also held in Arab-dense cities such as Los Angeles and Detroit, but Tarab is doing more than throwing a party - it is run by New York City's LGBT Arab community and seeks to build a community outside of the nightclub scene. Kaz Senju is a Brooklyn-based photographer who recently published his book Shinjuku Story, where more than 45 gay bar owners from Tokyo were interviewed and photographed. Until Tarab came along, one of the few outlets for LGBT Middle Easterners in New York City was a monthly, more than 10-year-old party called Habibi. The program will celebrate its second anniversary with an event Saturday. He said he created Tarab - a series of parties, beach gatherings and other events for LGBT Arabs and Middle Easterners in New York City - because the community needed to be organized. ![]() ![]() "I was craving community because there was this idea that I could only be one identity at a time," said Tarab creator Bashar Makhay, who is Chaldean-Iraqi, American, Catholic and gay. Times reporter Alan Feuer has a detailed profile on the place, which charges 40 for couples, 90 for single men, and admits unescorted women'who are sex-club gold'free of charge.
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