Last Ditch, the Greenfield, Mass. lesbian bar, which gave us the best story of the year, as announced it is unable to continue operations.
The bar ignited a firestorm Among the batshit crazy ‘Woke COVID-conscious (in 2026!) Western Massachusetts lesbian” community following a September Boston Globe report https://www.bostonglobe.com/2026/09/22/magazine/greenfield-last-ditch-bar-backlash/
After opening with a strict KN95 mask mandate, the bar — which was struggling with $50,000 in debt and low revenue — announced on August 31, 2026, that Saturday nights would become mask-optional to attract more customers.
Backlash
The decision triggered fierce online and community outrage from critics who accused the sole remaining owner, Jackie Mattelion, of ableism, eugenics, and “complicity in a masked disabling event,” with some commenters even threatening to firebomb the venue.
As the crisis unraveled during a tense 3.5-hour Zoom “accountability meeting”, it was revealed that Matellion was left running the bar while working four jobs and managing a $50,000 business loan, as her co-founders had previously stepped away — with one of them enrolling in clown school.
Last Ditch announced the change Monday, October 26, in an Instagram post. Events already on its calendar will continue.
“We are SOFT CLOSING effective immediately, all BOOKED events will CONTINUE, otherwise we are CLOSED,” the bar wrote.
Looking For New Owners
The Oct 26 announcement seeks co-owners, new owners or someone willing to buy the business outright.
“We need new owners ASAP, we close this winter,” an accompanying graphic says.
The bar says it still lacks a board or leadership team to manage a move to a worker-owned cooperative, a business its workers would own.
Its notice puts the value of equipment, furniture, repairs, inventory and other assets at about $70,000. That figure describes the bar’s claimed value, rather than a fixed asking price. The post invites offers for a full sale and says people could also join, train and take over the transition.
The announcement does not give an exact final closing date.
As NewBostonPost previously reported, the bar hoped the change would bring in more customers and help pay its bills.
Loonies assailed the bar online, screeching that the decision was “ableist” in that it would harm or exclude people supposedly at greater risk from COVID-19. The backlash included boycott calls and a September 11 community meeting.
At that meeting, remaining founder Jackie Matellian described working four jobs, living in her truck for six months while putting money into the business and facing responsibility for a $50,000 business loan.
Those financial problems long predated the national attention.
