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    "original_url": "https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2026\/09\/27\/us\/last-ditch-lesbian-bar-covid-masks-massachusetts.html?emc=edit_na_20260928&nl=breaking-news&segment_id=227201",
    "parsed_content": "AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTSupported bySKIP ADVERTISEMENTSaturday Night at the Massachusetts Lesbian Bar Everyone Is Talking AboutLast Ditch, a bar and art space, ended its Covid mask requirement as a way to attract more people. What it got instead was outsized attention.Listen \u00b7 6:33 min Share full articleOne of the signs on the door of Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue asks visitors to wear a mask. Recently, the bar said it would lift its mask mandate on Saturdays. Credit...Sophie Park for The New York TimesBy Mark ArsenaultReporting from outside a suddenly famous lesbian bar in Greenfield, Mass.Sept. 27, 2026See more of our coverage in your search results.Encuentra m\u00e1s de nuestra cobertura en los resultados de b\u00fasqueda. Add The New York Times on GoogleAgrega The New York Times en Google A few locals stopped by the Last Ditch lesbian bar early Saturday evening, intending to drop a few bucks to support a struggling business that had become something of a celebrity.But the bar\u2019s purple door was closed. Opening time was not until 10 p.m.\u201cI have a lot of friends in the queer community and I\u2019d hate to see this place go under,\u201d said Melinda McCreven, of Greenfield, who had never visited the Last Ditch, but came by to try to spend a little money.Last Ditch, a basement bar down a set of concrete steps, beneath a Mexican restaurant, drew news coverage in Europe and the United States this week after a Boston Globe story about the bar\u2019s plan to lift its Covid mask requirement on Saturday nights went viral.The article came after a podcast had covered a vitriolic, hourslong meeting, when Last Ditch patrons and its owner argued over whether the bar was abandoning its mission to be welcoming to all.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTEarly Saturday evening, a sign on the closed door said another meeting was taking place inside.Greenfield, a Western Massachusetts town of about 17,000, is not accustomed to the national spotlight.As darkness fell on Saturday evening, downtown went quiet. One man with a long stringy beard sat alone on a bench, eyes cast downward. Another man in some distress yelled obscure questions at passers-by, such as \u201cHow do you build a skyscraper?\u201d and \u201cWhat kind of music is jazz?\u201d Someone called the police on him.ImageOne group of people who attempted to go to the Last Ditch on Saturday went elsewhere when they found it was still closed.Credit...Sophie Park for The New York TimesA group turned away by the closed purple door at Last Ditch made their way a half-block to throw darts at the Victoria bar, a locals pub with a tiny pride flag in the window.\u201cFriends from all over the country have been sending me the articles about it,\u201d said Hallie Abelman, 34, of the Last Ditch controversy. \u201cIt\u2019s the talk of the town.\u201d While she was being interviewed outside the Victoria bar, a man tried to bum a cigarette from her group.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT\u201cThere are many different Greenfields,\u201d said Phoebe Glick, 35, who also tried to get into Last Ditch. There are crunchy lefties, conservative MAGA fans, people of all incomes, and an L.G.B.T.Q. community migrating from places like Northampton in search of cheaper housing, she said.Around 6:30 p.m., four people in masks came out of the Last Ditch and confronted a small group of journalists hanging around outside. When one photographer snapped a flash photo of them, they demanded he delete the picture, and threatened to call the police if other journalists didn\u2019t leave.Three housemates, Asa Rosario, Jackie Matellian and Sage Territo, opened the bar in 2025 as a fun place for \u201cDykes, Transexuals, Gender Freaks, Workers, and their friends.\u201d Two queer bars in the region had closed in recent years, and they hoped to fill the need.Western Massachusetts would appear to be a customer-rich environment for a such a business: Nearby Hampshire County has the largest percentage of lesbian couple households in the country, according to the 2020 census.ImageA pride flag hangs in the window of a grocery store across the street from the Last Ditch.Credit...Sophie Park for The New York TimesThe bar\u2019s sudden fame comes from the fact that it had never really left the pandemic era, even though it opened just last year.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTPatrons were required to wear KN95 or better masks, the face coverings ubiquitous during the heights of Covid-19, and which most of the country had left long ago to dental hygienists and people who don\u2019t want anyone to sit next to them on the train.Looking back, explosive feelings over the bar\u2019s Covid safety policy were lurking from the day the owners announced the rule on social media, shortly before opening.One respondent posted gratitude, saying they had felt \u201clocked out of queer spaces as an immunocompromised disabled queer.\u201d\u201cWith respect,\u201d another poster wrote, unknowingly foretelling the international controversy to come, \u201cwould you consider one night per week as a mask optional evening?\u201dAdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTA third poster shot the argument straight to 11: \u201caka one night a week where disabled\/high risk people aren\u2019t welcome. where\u2019s the respect you mentioned?\u201dThe new bar maintained a busy event schedule after opening, with dance and karaoke parties, drag shows, watch parties for WNBA games, and a variety show billed as \u201cNot your grandmother\u2019s burlesque.\u201d Promotions for Last Ditch events on social media often contained the reminder to mask up.But in time, business fell off and the bar felt a financial squeeze. Looking to attract more customers, ownership announced on social media on Aug. 31 that the Last Ditch would go mask optional on Saturday nights.Hundreds of comments poured in, many accusing ownership of being ableist and risking the lives of immunocompromised customers.The anguish was catnip for online trolls. In the days after the Globe story went viral, an anti-backlash backlash emerged, with people mocking the bar\u2019s patrons with cruel social media quips and long think pieces.AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENTImagePhoebe Glick and Hallie Abelman play a game of darts. They said Greenfield draws all kinds of people.Credit...Sophie Park for The New York TimesAs the evening approached 10 p.m., several dozen people \u2014 couples and people in small groups \u2014 walked through light rain to Last Ditch.Patricia Sonaike, 24, a University of Massachusetts-Amherst student, said she had become interested in visiting Last Ditch after the bar had announced its relaxed mask policy, and before the controversy had made the news. The new policy, she said, is a bid to broaden the bar\u2019s customer base.\u201cPeople are forgetting that this is a business that needs revenue,\u201d she said.While she was speaking to reporters, a man approached and asked if anyone could give him exactly 55 cents. He accepted a dollar, and offered to give back change.Two visiting professors at Smith College, LeiAnna Hamel and Gianna Albaum, said they tried to get into Last Ditch but were turned away because they didn\u2019t already know anyone who was inside. They were told the event was a \u201cprivate party.\u201dCome back on another day, they were advised, once the hubbub has died down.From the commentsMark ArsenaultReporter covering higher educationThe infighting over the Last Ditch\u2019s masking policy made headlines across the country and throughout Europe. But I wanted to look at the rest of Greenfield, a small town not far from where I grew up in rural Massachusetts. How does a community actually process a viral news story in their own town, involving its own friends and neighbors?AdvertisementSKIP ADVERTISEMENT",
    "published_at": "2026-09-27T11:54:40+00:00",
    "author_name": "Mark Arsenault",
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    "ai_headline": "Saturday Night at the Massachusetts Lesbian Bar Everyone Is Talking About",
    "ai_simplified_title": "Last Ditch Bar Ends Mask Mandate, Sparks Controversy in Greenfield",
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