The Last Ditch, a small lesbian bar in Western Massachusetts, is at the center of a media firestorm after it decided to loosen its mask mandate. The local communist party released a statement to “strongly condemn” the Boston Globe for writing the article.
It calls for solidarity among the queer and trans people of the region.
Other members of the community are not quite sure how to feel. They did not expect to be the center of international attention.
Last Ditch is a lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts.
This viral story was first discussed by the Blocked and Reported podcast on Sept. 17. Social media was ablaze when The Boston Globe picked it up about five days later. Its original post was viewed more than 30 million times. The headline is everywhere.
According to the Boston Globe, the article generated at least 1,000 subscriptions to the online newspaper on the day of its release. It is the highest-performing article of the year “by far” and is still on pace to break all kinds of records.
If you are not already familiar with the story, the gist is this:
The Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue is located in Greenfield, Massachusetts at the north end of the Pioneer Valley. It is a bar for “dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers, and their friends.”
Opened in April of 2025, Last Ditch previously required its patrons to wear a well-fitted KN-95 mask at all times. They are asked to only pull down their mask to take a sip of their drink or bite of their food, and to return the mask to cover the face when done.
However, the bar is in significant debt. Its owner — who also coaches the cheerleading team at nearby Smith College — has to work four jobs to make ends meet. She even sleeps in her truck. Whatever it takes to keep the doors open!
In an effort to grow its customer base and increase profits, Last Ditch decided to make masks optional on Saturdays. The policy change did not go over well. Patrons accused Last Ditch of being both ableist and eugenicist during a 3.5-hour community meeting on Sept. 11. They feel betrayed. They did not want change.
To make matters worse, Last Ditch posted an apology to Instagram that did not include alt-text for visually impaired readers. The backlash grew even louder.
Local communists condemn the Boston Globe!
As you could imagine, the small town of Greenfield, Massachusetts did not expect to be the epicenter of the most viral story on the internet. Locals who spoke with the Greenfield Recorder are split on how to feel.
John Ward owns Greenfield Solar, which provides solar PV renewable energy design and installation in the Pioneer Valley of Western Massachusetts. He wishes things would go back to the way they were.
“I hope that the town of Greenfield is not being perceived as not inclusive or not supportive of Last Ditch. I’d rather Greenfield was the well-kept secret it had been before.”
Meaghan Cuevas was interviewed and photographed for the Boston Globe article. She actually supports the Last Ditch’s decision to scale back the mask mandate but she was surprised by what was written.
“They made it seem like they were going to make the bar sound like a great place, which it is, but the way they wrote it, it was not what we were thinking. It’s like a totally different direction than what I thought the article was going to be.”
And then there is Luke Rotello, the co-chair of the Western Massachusetts Club of the Communist Party USA. He felt like the Boston Globe lacked context in its reporting and presents the region as something it is not.
“Rotello views this situation as representative of the ‘collapse of cultural life with deindustrialization’ as economic activity leaves the region, adding that the article treats the people engaged with Last Ditch and this region as a ‘spectacle,’ and that subset is not representative of the diversity of people and thought in western Massachusetts.”
— Madison Schofield, Erin-Leigh Hoffman, Aalianna Marietta of the Greenfield Recorder
The Western Massachusetts Club of the Communist Party USA also released a statement to “strongly condemn” the article. It calls for solidarity among the queer and trans people of the region. It also says that Greenfield has become a refuge for queer people who want to “flee the extreme right” for political protection. The full statement reads as follows:
Not too long thereafter, the Last Ditch finally broke its silence on Instagram. The post asks for the community to send money to Soe Noire, a gender-expansive lesbian who uses he/him pronouns. Noire is quoted throughout the Boston Globe article but his statements were allegedly misconstrued. He has been subject to harassment since the article was published.
Meanwhile, the Last Ditch has received financial donations from all over the world. It plans to pay down ~$4,000 in unpaid rent, purchase $500 worth of COVID tests and masks, purchase a $1,000 industrial air purifier, and use the remaining money on payroll for employees and renovations.