Greenfield, Massachusetts, Lesbian Bar Last Ditch Soft Closes, Seeks New Owners After Mask Policy Dispute

Last Ditch, a lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts, announced on Monday, Oct. 26, that it will "soft close" immediately and is seeking co-owners, new owners or a full sale. In an Instagram post, the bar said only booked events will continue and that it will close for good this winter if no new owners step forward. The bar, in a basement space, opened last year for lesbians, trans people and other queer patrons, workers and their friends. The post valued its equipment, furniture, repairs, inventory and other assets at about $70,000. The bar said it lacks a board or leadership team to manage a move to a worker-owner cooperative, so it needs new owners quickly, and people could also join, train and take over. It gave no exact closing date. The owners said they had put their lives on hold to build networks of care, resources and a base for organizing, and that it was time to pass it on. Last month the bar went viral after the Boston Globe reported on a dispute over its plan to relax its Covid mask rule one night a week to boost Saturday business. Some customers accused the owners of ableism and of abandoning immunocompromised people.

The right-leaning Daily Mail leads with the closure and frames the mask dispute with words like "wild outrage" and "woke Covid mask war." It spends most of its space on logistics: the Instagram wording, the $70,000 asset value, the missing leadership team and the unclear closing date. The left-leaning Guardian and New York Times also lead with the closure but tie it to the mask policy that made the bar famous. The Guardian adds that critics of the bar were themselves met with backlash and mockery, that the publicity brought some support, and that it was not enough. The Times says the national attention did not save the business. Both sides agree on the closure, the Instagram announcement and the mask change that preceded it. They differ mainly in tone and in which details they stress. Alternative outlets had not reported the story at the time of writing.