The first mask-free Saturday at a Massachusetts lesbian bar since it became embroiled in a bitter culture war was nearly called off after its remaining owner said the venue was being “infiltrated.”
Greenfield’s Last Ditch Bar sparked outrage last month when it told its “immunocompromised disabled divas” that it would suspend its mandatory mask rule one night a week to attract more business — six years into the COVID-19 pandemic.
More than a dozen patrons arrived shortly after 7 p.m. for a goth-themed evening featuring underground DJs “Hannibal Directive” and “Puppy Synthesis,” only to be turned away and told to return at 10 p.m. Staff said they were holding an emergency meeting, while many attendees said they had not received information about the theme.
By the time the crowd returned, nearly 100 people were lining up outside. The financially struggling bar then announced that the mask-free dance night, which patrons had anticipated for hours, had become a private event because of unspecified “safety breaches.” Anyone unable to identify someone inside, staff said, would be turned away.
As an additional security measure, patrons were required to surrender their identification to staff and could retrieve it only when they left.
Despite the backlash over the decision to allow mask-free attendance one night a week — a move critics described as a “mass disabling event” and a “eugenicist” attack — fewer than a dozen people wore masks on Saturday.
“It just feels off-putting,” said Pete, 43, of nearby Northampton, a city sometimes dubbed “Lesbianville, USA,” explaining why he chose not to wear one.
“I thought it would be more inclusive for me to go on Saturdays,” Patricia Sonaike, 24, a Houston native, told The Post. Sonaike is studying biology at UMass Amherst and is a member of the LGBTQ+ community.
“In my humblest of opinions, the moral grandstanding that is happening right now is like how a lot of these queer and BIPOC spaces won’t last,” she said.
Inside, patrons danced to techno-pop on a black-and-white checkered floor centered around a stripper pole. Anime played on a projector while neon lights pulsed across the room.
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The basement bar is marked outside by a fluorescent lavender “Last Ditch” sign. On the entrance door, another message reads, “please wear a mask, it’s like a seatbelt for your face.” Inside, reminders of the pandemic remain throughout the venue.
A blue wall displays pamphlets titled “How to Take a Rapid Antigen Test” alongside materials including “What is Queer Liberation?” and “A Worker’s Rights Guide.” The bar’s free “store” offers N-95 masks, while its owners highlight the venue’s “excess air purifiers” and “large exhaust fans.”
Other recurring events, including a monthly masked social with speed dating, also offer an online option.
The bar opened last year as a gathering place for “dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers, and their friends.” Until the recent policy change, it required guests to wear N-95 masks — “or better” — at all times.
When the change was announced last month, it triggered a fierce response from the city’s queer community and the bar’s clientele.
“Just say you’re being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with,” one social media user wrote in response.
“People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience,” another person wrote.
Three housemates in their mid-20s launched Last Ditch Bar. Two have since left, including one who departed to attend clown school.
During a meeting two weeks ago, the sole remaining owner, Jackie Matellian, cried behind her mask as she apologized for the policy change and discussed the bar’s financial outlook.
Matellian said she had been left responsible for a $50,000 business loan taken out with her former housemates and had spent the previous six months living in a car.
“It was not my passion project,” Matellian, 26, confessed. “I never really wanted to do this…. I don’t think I’m doing a very good job.”
