![\"Interior](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_313713993-8974-e1793046660135.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe Massachusetts bar opened in 2025 (Picture: Last Ditch Bar Instagram)<\/p>\n
\t\t
\n\t\tThe Massachusetts bar opened in 2025 (Picture: Last Ditch Bar Instagram)<\/p>\n
A Lesbian bar which went viral after announcing it would offer one night for patrons not to wear an N-95 mask has \u2018soft launched\u2019 its closure.<\/p>\n
The Last Ditch bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts, only opened its doors last year, long after the COVID<\/a> pandemic first hit the world. The bar had one very strict rule: patrons must wear face masks.<\/p>\n The bar found itself embroiled in a viral dispute over a teeny, tiny change in policy on Saturday nights \u2013 allowing masks to be optional.<\/p>\n It was casually included on a poster promoting a new club night, which many critics took as too flippant, failing to address the issue with the care it deserved.<\/p>\n As a viral article in The\u00a0Boston<\/a>\u00a0Globe reported, one commenter wrote, \u2018just say you\u2019re being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with,\u2019 while another said, \u2018I hope your venue gets firebombed for robbing my fellow immunocompromised people of their Saturday plans just to scrape extra revenue from ablists [sic].\u2019<\/p>\n \t\t There were some 400 comments in the end, many of which were accusing the venue of failing to take the COVID pandemic seriously. This is in spite of the fact that Greenfield hadn\u2019t seen a single reported Covid case for two months at the time the article was published. <\/p>\n Despite the owner pleading with patrons to forgive her and explaining how she had amassed thousands of dollars in debt and was living out of a car, they didn\u2019t let up.<\/p>\n Now, Last Ditch announced they would begin soft closing immediately, but keep all booked events scheduled.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\tJoin Metro’s LGBTQ+ community on WhatsApp\t\t\t<\/p>\n With thousands of members from all over the world, our vibrant LGBTQ+ WhatsApp channel<\/a> is a hub for all the latest news and important issues that face the LGBTQ+ community.<\/p>\n Simply\u00a0click on this link<\/a>, select \u2018Join Chat\u2019 and you\u2019re in! Don’t forget to turn on notifications!<\/p>\n \u2018We need new owners ASAP, we close this winter,\u2019 the bar wrote.<\/p>\n \t\t \u2018We have put our lives on hold to foster networks of care, resources, and a home base for organising. It\u2019s time we pass it on. We\u2019ve been fighting since the beginning to fill out the team, and we still don\u2019t have a board\/leadership to manage workers\u2019 owned Co-op<\/a> transfer.\u2019<\/p>\n An accompanying graphic detailed that the venue has $70,000 worth of equipment, furniture and inventory. <\/p>\n The Last Ditch believed that no one should be turned away for not being able to afford their cover charge, a policy which includes \u2018unhoused people.\u2019\u00a0<\/p>\n The Guardian<\/a>\u00a0pointed out that while this is \u2018very generous,\u2019 it\u2019s \u2018also a formula for losing money.\u2019 It\u2019s a fair point.<\/p>\n Fast forward to 2026, and the community ripped itself apart because the owners changed their policy on masks in a bid to, well, actually make a profit. <\/p>\n A subsequent statement from the bar said it was \u2018sorry to disappoint valued community members with access changes by a casual announcement\u2019.<\/p>\n Now, they\u2019ve announced a \u2018soft closure\u2019 beginning this winter. <\/p>\n Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more stories like this, check our news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n Arrow Arrow Arrow![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_318318045-d6a0.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe bar has now announced a \u2018soft closure\u2019 (Picture: Last Ditch Bar Instagram)<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/SEI_313968888-dd93.jpg\")
\n\t\tThe bar was thrust into the national spotlight in early September (Picture: Getty)<\/p>\n
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