Controversy ensued after the Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue announced that it was changing to a mask-optional venue one night a week
Credit: Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue
NEED TO KNOW
- A Massachusetts lesbian bar has spoken out after controversy tied to the establishment’s mask mandate policy went viral
- The Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue said it would be changing to a mask-optional venue one night a week, sparking online outrage
- The Greenfield-based bar originally asked patrons to wear a KN-95 respirator mask “or better” while visiting in an effort to accommodate immunocompromised and COVID-conscious individuals since it opened in 2025
A lesbian bar in Massachusetts is speaking out after a news article about controversy tied to the establishment’s mask mandate policy went viral.
Last month, the Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue in Greenfield announced through an Instagram post that it would be changing to a mask-optional venue one night a week “to try out typical club nights with themes/hosts/DJs/full capacity.” The bar had originally asked patrons to wear a KN-95 respirator mask “or better” while visiting in an effort to accommodate immunocompromised and COVID-conscious individuals since it opened in 2025.
The decision was met with praise, but also heavy backlash, and the bar’s move away from mask usage was later amplified after The Boston Globe reported on the change on Wednesday, Sept. 23.
In a Thursday, Sept. 24 Instagram post, Last Ditch responded to its mask removal decision going viral, and also defended one patron, Soe Noire, who criticized the bar and venue’s decision during what it called an “accountability session” that took place in person and on Zoom on Sept. 11, Newsweek and The Boston Globe reported.
“Today we need to address the safety of the community itself. Stop harassing Soe Noire. It is neither productive, progressive, nor valiant to attack and harass a Black patron,” Last Ditch wrote on social media, explaining that Noire “has been a collaborator and performer of Last Ditch for a while, and he deserves to speak his mind about accountability and repair from the bar.”
“There are so many misconceptions due to the disorganization of the Globe’s article,” the bar continued. “He did not call for a shutdown, nor did he call for the bar to be firebombed. Further, he did not disparage the owner for being homeless.”
Last Ditch then wrote that Noire “has been getting additional threats, slurs and harassment” sent his way in the aftermath of the bar’s masking decision going viral, “and now he is being reported to the police over something he did not do.”
“This is not supporting us at Last Ditch, and it is, at its core, anti-Blackness hysteria,” the venue continued.
When Last Ditch announced the change to its mask mandate in an Aug. 31 Instagram post, the venue said, “It is with love we inform our immunocompromised disabled divas we will be opening Saturday nights as mask optional.”
“Accessibility is a pillar of our mission, AND our mission is also to make the space work for everyone and everything radical, sometimes that’s being wild. We strive for solidarity, transparency of risks, and connecting us all in this revolution,” Last Ditch continued.
The venue added that it would “still give priority to public and private Masked bookings, and continue a recurring monthly Masked Social prioritizing safety.”
Despite stating that the masking decision was made “only after an [outpouring] of feedback from our regulars, volunteers and team,” Last Ditch received hundreds of comments on the post, and even attracted the attention of local politicians.
During the later “accountability session” held in September, Newsweek reported the bar’s owner, Jackie Matellian, was joined by “volunteers, bar patrons and a designated mediator to facilitate the conversation” about the masking move.
There, the outlet said Matellian and Noire clashed when the bar owner explained the venue’s ongoing financial struggles, including that she was living in her car and struggling to pay off a $50,000 loan tied to the local small business.
“[Y]ou chose to use your time to spill tears and center your feelings. This is incredibly racist and deflecting behavior,” Noire said at the meeting, per Newsweek. “I came to this meeting to express solidarity. … As a Black person with other marginalized identities, I no longer feel safe in this venue.”
“A lot of people are calling for an acknowledgment of harm and I’m hearing a WHITE therapist … center[ing] the feelings of a majority White and White adjacent staff,” he added in the Zoom chat, per The Boston Globe.
Last Ditch describes itself on its Instagram profile as a “lesbian bar, rental venue [and] community center.”
The venue currently has music trivia nights, club nights and other events planned, with a follow-up accountability session scheduled for October, per Newsweek.
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