Maskless Saturday almost canceled at Massachusetts lesbian bar at center of controversy

The first mask-free Saturday since a Massachusetts lesbian bar went viral for descending into a nasty culture war was nearly canceled after its last remaining owner claimed the venue was “undercover.”

Greenfield’s Last Ditch Bar caused an uproar when it announced last month to its “immune-compromised disabled divas” that it was lifting its mandatory mask policy just one night a week in an effort to boost business — a full six years after the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than a dozen patrons gathered at the door shortly after 7 p.m. for a “goth night” with underground DJs “Hannibal Directive” and “Puppy Synthesis” were turned away and asked to return at 10 p.m. because the staff was holding a last-minute emergency meeting. Most hadn’t gotten the memo on the theme.

Upon their return, the hundred or so people rushing to get in were quickly informed by the financially strapped establishment that due to unspecified “security violations,” the maskless dance party they had been looking forward to for three hours was now a private event — and that if they couldn’t name someone they knew inside, there would be 86 of them.

Customers also had to hand over their ID to staff, as a security measure, and could only collect it when leaving.

Despite outcry over the decision to go maskless one night a week by those who called it a “mass disabling event” and a “eugenics” attack, fewer than a dozen patrons were masked Saturday.

“It’s just off-putting,” Pete, 43, who lives in nearby Northampton, the town nicknamed “Lesbianville, USA,” said of wearing a mask.

“I thought it would be more inclusive for me to go on Saturday,” Patricia Sonaike, 24, a native of Houston, Texas, a biology major at UMass Amherst and a member of the LGBTQ+ community, told the Post.

“In my humblest opinion, the moral grandstanding that is happening now looks like a lot of these queer and BIPOC spaces will not last. »

The crowd danced to techno pop music on the black-and-white checkered dance floor that had a stripper pole in the middle, while cartoons played on a projection screen and neon lights flashed.

The basement bar, which features a fluorescent lavender sign with the words “Last Ditch” outside and a sign on the door that says, “Please wear a mask, it’s like a seat belt for your face,” has countless reminders of the pandemic era that most people are trying to forget indoors.

Pamphlets on “How to Take a Rapid Antigen Test” hang on a blue wall next to titles like “What is Queer Liberation?” ” and “A Guide to Workers’ Rights,” N-95 masks are offered in their free “store” and owners brag about their “excess air purifiers” and “large exhaust fans.”

Regular evenings – like the monthly “mask social” with speed dating – even have a virtual option.

The bar, which opened last year to accommodate “dykes, transsexuals, gender enthusiasts, workers and their friends,” required mandatory N-95 masks — “or better” — at all times.

When the change was announced last month, all hell broke loose with its woke following in the small town’s queer community.

“Just say you are complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with,” one social media user wrote to the announcement.

“People like you kill disabled people in the name of their own leisure and convenience,” another blasted.

Last Ditch Bar was started by three roommates in their 20s, two of whom have since bailed, including one who dropped out to go to clown school.

The last remaining owner, Jackie Matellian, cried through her mask during a meeting two weeks ago to apologize for the masking decision and talk about the bar’s financial future.

She explained that she was responsible for the $50,000 business loan she took out with her friends and had been living in a car for six months.

“It wasn’t my passion project,” admitted Matellian, 26. “I never really wanted to do this…I don’t think I do a very good job.”