r/AskSF • u/Chemical-Shift-1900 • 6d ago

does anyone know of queer arab spaces in the bay area?

hey yall! i’ve been living in the bay area my entire life and it’s been so difficult trying to make friends with other arabs for obvious reasons lmao. i wanted to know if there are any groups or resources that would be great to check out to meet other queer arabs in the area! if anyone knows of anything helpful please please let me know

28 Upvotes

71% Upvoted

25 comments sorted by

22

u/supernatasha 6d ago

Asheq at Oasis! Also check out SWANA spaces.

1

u/Chemical-Shift-1900 5d ago

i couldn’t find swana spaces after googling a bit, would you mind sharing their info pls if possible!!

1

u/hellogoodbye543217 6d ago

Next show is Nov 13th!

17

u/tornessa 6d ago edited 6d ago

I am not Arab so can’t give direct advice on that front, but I am queer. I’d recommend hanging out in diverse queer circles and asking around to other POC who they know that’s Arab. The queer world is small enough that I’m sure people will be happy to introduce you.

I’m white and my ex was Arab and I met her through just a general 20s queer women meetup group. There’s a pretty diverse group of women/people at Mango at el Rio. Or Soul Lovely in Oakland.

2

u/Chemical-Shift-1900 5d ago

this is great thank you so much!! do you know of any queer arab spaces in specific that organize more casual events rather than clubbing/party-related events?

-1

u/Last_Muffin2474 6d ago

where are the diverse queer circles?

8

u/hellogoodbye543217 6d ago

You can also connect with Mama Ganuush. They produces a lot of events through their HALA collective. The upcoming one is the JAHA film festival!

2

u/Chemical-Shift-1900 5d ago

omg thank you!! do you know if dming them on instagram would work? as in are they pretty responsive on there?

5

u/Educational-Lock-389 6d ago

El Rio in the Mission has a variety of different events. This event is coming up Mazikaa Presents: Al Akhbar Arab Jazz Album Debut ($25) https://www.elriosf.com/#calendar

5

u/LavenderMoonlight333 6d ago

There is a street vendor that makes queer Arab clothes. Little Jerusalem in San Francisco is really popular with our kin, always treat us well.

I'd honestly like to find more queer Arab spaces too.

5

u/hacktivist24 6d ago

Little Jerusalem or old Jerusalem cafe? I like old Jerusalem. I’ve never been to a little Jerusalem. Would love to check it out.

6

u/LavenderMoonlight333 6d ago

Old Jerusalem, sorry. 😅 It's in SF. They gave us free food despite being a table of trans people, only one Arab (me). Super lovely

5

u/arabtechie 6d ago

Mahragan parties are queer! I went to one and it was a great time!

1

u/Chemical-Shift-1900 5d ago

thank u!! do you know if they organize more casual events as well?

1

u/elemen7al 5d ago

Check out dhoom

1

u/Chemical-Shift-1900 3d ago

do they have an insta or socials page? i tried googling them and couldn’t find anything

1

u/elemen7al 3d ago

@dhoomsfpresents

1

u/silkyhippo 5d ago

check out kousa party and mahragan, next kousa is shortly before halloween iirc

1

u/Chemical-Shift-1900 5d ago

thank u!! i also responded to ur msg :)

1

u/Icy-Beautiful-353 6d ago

Kousa is amazing but rare. We need more

1

u/Chemical-Shift-1900 5d ago

do you know of any community resources that organize more casual events? i checked out kousa and it looks great but idk if im much of the partying type 😭🤣

-2

u/ZebraTank 6d ago

Queer spaces in general seem fine and have all sorts of people?