The COVID-Conscious Massachusetts Lesbian Bar, Last Ditch, Is Closing Its Doors

Last Ditch, which has also become virally known as the “COVID-conscious Western Massachusetts lesbian bar,” announced on Monday that it was closing.

In an Instagram post, the establishment said, “WE ARE CLOSING.”

The bar said it was due to not being able to fill out the bar’s team.

“We have put our lives on hold to foster networks of care, resources, and a home base for organizing. It’s time we pass it on.
We’ve been fighting since the beginning to fill out the team, and we still don’t have a board/leadership to manage workers owned Co-op transfer. We are SOFT CLOSING effective immediately, all BOOKED events will CONTINUE, otherwise we are CLOSED.
Love and solidarity to all,” the bar wrote.

Last Ditch — a lesbian bar, performance venue, and community space — opened its doors in Greenfield, Massachusetts, in 2025.

In September, the Boston Globe published a viral article about the bar changing its masking policy, only for critics to swarm the business’s social media accounts.

The piece reported that at the end of August, Last Ditch posted a series of updates to its Instagram page, including notes on co-ownership, a monthly volunteer meetup, and trialing new themed dance party events. One of the announcements also focused on a change to the bar’s longstanding mask mandate.

“It is with love we inform our immunocompromised disabled divas we will be opening Saturday nights as mask optional to try out typical club nights with themes/hosts/DJs/full capacity,” the bar wrote. “We still give priority to public and private Masked bookings, and continue a recurring monthly Masked Social prioritizing safety.”

They also noted that the change was made in response to “an outpour of of feedback from our regulars, volunteers, and team.”

“It’s upsetting and feels like pandering to have a mask free night,” one person wrote at the time. “If people need mask free spaces or mask breaks you can step outside to do so. Last Ditch was a safe haven for a lot of immunocompromised folks.”

“I know there’s so many people who want mask mandate but every time I’ve gone to the last ditch there’s not many people there,” another countered. “At the end of the day, a space like this can’t exist if people don’t show up.”

According to the Globe, an attempt to diffuse the situation at a community meeting in mid-September failed miserably. Jackie Matellian, the only one of three original co-owners still involved with the day-to-day operations, explained the financial lengths she’s gone to in order to keep Last Ditch afloat at her own expense, but pro-mask critics reportedly only further faulted her for allegedly centering her own feelings, the paper reported.

“I felt so horrible for them,” local business owner Elizabeth DeNeeve told the Greenfield Recorder after the Globe article was published. “They were being trolled and told that despite all of the hard work they were doing interacting with the community, that it wasn’t enough, it wasn’t the right kind of interaction. … I don’t think you should have to defend yourself on the town’s Facebook group as you’re trying to make your way as a business. People should just be thankful that you’re there.”