Go Woke, Go Broke: Last Ditch Lesbian Bar’s Last Ditch Effort To Keep Its Doors Open

The Lesbian Take on the the Massachusetts "lesbian" bar that goes viral after a well‑intentioned but wildly over‑complicated mask policy sets off a chain reaction of confusion, backlash, and a mediation session no bar owner should ever have to sit through. It’s a story about how good intentions, bad communication, and mission drift can sink a space that forgot what its core community (lesbians) actually need.

Read the full article: A Western Mass. Lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose

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A lesbian bar in Massachusetts is going mega viral for super forehead slapping nonsense. Because what do you mean that you thought that operating a COVID-conscious bar in 2026 was fiscally responsible? There was an article from the Boston Globe spotlighting an August 31st Instagram post from the Last Ditch Bar, which claims to be a lesbian bar. In the post, Last Ditch was teasing a new DJ lineup, but they also made an announcement that unleashed a firestorm in its comment section. Now I'm gonna read their statement and keep in mind they're 100% serious. So here's the statement. It is with love that we inform our immunocompromised disabled divas that we will be opening Saturday nights as mask optional to try out typical club nights with themes, hosts, DJs, full capacity. Accessibility is a pillar of our mission, and our mission is also to make the space work for everyone and everything radical. Sometimes that's being wild. We strive for solidarity, transparency of risks, and connecting us all in this revolution. We still give priority to public and private mass bookings and continue a recurring monthly mass social prioritizing safety. It is only after an outpour of feedback from our regulars, volunteers, and team that we make this edition. So that's their statement. Sounds reasonable enough, right? Well, if you thought that, you'd be wrong. The statement was not well received. And I'm gonna read a few comments left under their post, okay? They're kind of wild. One commenter, right? They say if this was the AIDS epidemic, you'd be on the side of people who were against prophylactic and who believed AIDS patients should be hidden from the public, left to die alone. So that's like one comment. And I'm just like, wow. Keep in mind that this is this bar, last stitch, they're only saying that the mask mandate will be lifted for Saturday nights. Right? So this comment is just so left field. I just like can't. Another commenter says, You've just decided that disabled people's lives are debatable, and that's fine. It's pretty typical of white leftists. Okay. Let me just say this for real, right? I have many friends with disabilities, and none of them wear masks. Is it just me? Or is it wrong to lump people with disabilities in a single box? I'm pretty sure there are lesbians with disabilities who would want to go to a lesbian bar and party without a mask. Is that just me? I don't know where people are going with these comments. Okay, I'm gonna read another comment here, which is also kind of wild. And so they say a venue wouldn't run a hatred and discrimination night to ensure that prejudice people have a night where they feel included. Inclusivity is about setting basic standard for human dignity. How this person jumped right to hatred is super wild to me. I just can't. Is it just me? I just think the reaction to the Saturday no masks night is so wild. And that's the word I have is wild. You know, there's a certain level of entitlement. This bar doesn't owe you anything. It's a business, you know? And then this is probably one of the worst comments that I came across while I was doing a little digging. And so this commenter says, I hope your venue gets firebombed for robbing my fellow immunocompromised people of their Saturday plans just to scrape extra revenue from ableists. Now, a person like this is just like the people who've told me to go hang myself because I'm actually a lesbian with boundaries, and I refuse to have my sexuality erased. It's people like this why I and many lesbians and gay men are aligning ourselves with the LGB Alliance because we're sick and tired of this bullying behavior. I feel really bad for these bar owners because what do you mean? What do you mean? Like they are creating a space for you. It's just not on Saturdays, and there's likely many people with disabilities who who want to go to a bar without a mask. But in total, there were 442 comments uh under the Last Ditch Instagram post by the time uh the Boston Globe did their article. And I can just tell you, most were not received with love. And so two days after the post, Last Ditch issued an apology stating we're sorry to disappoint valued community members with access changes. Our diverse disabled immunocompromise team make decisions by multiple open community meetings, feedback form reviews, and advice from intersectional business advisors and elders. Vast feedback over almost two years pushed for varied accessibility. Not one size fits all. People consent to varying risks every day to be in community, though we generally try to follow universal design. All 99% of us marginalized deserve to be welcome. Accessibility is a pillar of our mission. We prioritize solidarity amongst groups with different needs, connecting us all in this revolution. Naturally, as you could probably guess, the apology only made things worse. So, guess what The Last Ditch did next? And I swear, this is like a Seinfeld episode. It's crazy. But they hosted a mediation facilitated by a therapist, and the participants included one of the three founders because two of the three founders decided they've had enough with this bar. One of them went to clown school, and one of them just went to like university or college or whatever. So there's only one founder right now who's making a last ditch effort to make this bar work and make it profitable. And so at the mediation, you had that one founder, and then there were some staff in this mediation and some of their most vocal critics. And this was on a Zoom call, but some of the staff were in person at the bar. And as you can probably guess, this mediation failed miserably. One of the critics came out the gate and said, a lot of people are calling for acknowledgement of harm, and I'm hearing a white therapist centering the feelings of a majority white and white adjacent staff. Right? So they said this, and then a lot of chaos then ensued. Another critic came out and said that they felt unsafe in the presence of the therapists. And then when the founder finally took the mic, her voice is all breaking, and she confesses that her credit score is trash and that she's been living in her truck for the last six months. She says that she's responsible for paying back 50k, you know, the loan that they took out to start the bar, even though three of them took out the loan, but I guess she is responsible for it. And she's in this financial woe situation because she opened this bar and is not profitable. They're deep in the red. And you would hope that the critics, in hearing her confession talking about her struggles, that they would be moved, but they were not. And that actually tells me a lot about them. They don't care about the bar. An establishment that, in my opinion, has gone out of its way to build a space for everybody except for actual lesbians. And so I just think that this whole story and this whole situation, it speaks to the current ailment that has been festering on the left for the better part of a decade. The left has an aureborous problem. It eats itself. I'm slightly left of center. I consider myself left. And I can tell you, as a black Butch lesbian, I feel politically abandoned. Like I care about social services, I care about liberalism, but I have common sense. And it just seems that these days you can't be on the left and have common sense. But then also the right doesn't have common sense. So it's like if you're someone who is pretty centrist but more liberal-leaning, you really do feel like there isn't a political party for you. And I just can't wrap my mind around how regressive the left has become to a point where so many of its constituents think that it's okay to even label me and other lesbians as bigots for being homosexuals. Like that is where we're at. We're at a point where, and I'm going back to some of these comments earlier, we're at a point where if you're a woman and you say, hey, this is my boundary, the reaction is somewhat okay for death threats to be made against you, right? So your boundary is seen as an act of violence, but their actual threat of violence isn't. That's where we are today. It's so insane. And I think that everything that's happening with the latstitch bar kind of speaks to this bigger problem that we're seeing in these western countries where I think a lot of people, we just had it too good, and so people are finding problems. I don't know. But I have enough common sense to know that bars are meant for meeting, mingling, and if you're single, you're looking to make a connection with somebody and maybe go home with them. How do you do that with an N95 mask on? I'd say it's virtually impossible. And so I'm absolutely not in shock to hear that the last ditch has been struggling financially, and even now with all the attention and media, it's still empty. Why? Well, I'll tell you why. Their website claims they are a lesbian bar, but in truth, the last ditch has an identity crisis. Majority of lesbians, we don't care about masks. I'm gonna just say that flatly. I know it's true. We don't care about masks, especially not now, four years after the indoor mask mandates have been lifted. Lesbians also aren't really interested in sharing spaces with everybody else. We want lesbian parties and lesbian events, meaning female only. Lesbians want great music, lesbians want lesbian movie and trivia nights. Lesbians, we want community more than anything. And you can't build that if the space you're creating is mixed sex and built on shaming us for wanting to have fun with others who share the same lived experience as homosexual women. You can't do that, and so you can't expect to be shocked when lesbians aren't showing up to your bar because it's not a lesbian bar. And I think that's a big reason why a lot of lesbian bars have shuddered or they're struggling, and it's because they're not catering to lesbians at all. They cater to queer. And I can tell you, back when I partied a lot, and this is years before I came to the conclusion that I wanted nothing to do with queer. I avoided queer parties. So even when I was big on the party scene, like 15 years ago, I avoided queer parties. I I went to lesbian parties, you know, because queer parties just weren't for me. Back in the day, the only queer party that I went to in Toronto was called Yes, yes, y'all. And frankly, that's probably because it was a black party with the best music, and generally it was gay men with a sprinkling of lesbians who tended to clump together. So was it actually queer? It was like a homosexual party, right? So maybe I wouldn't even call it queer. And another thing about lesbians is that when we have a partner, we tend not to go out as much. But you know what? I'm pretty sure we would go out if it was guaranteed that the lesbian bar or space that we were trying to go to actually catered to lesbians. Like I would go to that because I want to make lesbian friends. But a lot of these bars and parties, they don't cater to lesbians. I can't even remember the last time I met an actual lesbian at a party. You know, everybody's queer. They're not lesbian. The last ditch bar, it's not a bar for lesbians, it's a bar for virtue signalers. I wouldn't go there if somebody paid me. Now, another thing, like tell tell me, tell me really, like, tell me really, how do you expect me to drink my drink with a mask on? And if I have to take my mask off to drink my drink, isn't that negating the whole point of masks in the first place? And why would anyone buy more than one drink if it means that they have to go through this whole dance of taking off and putting back on a mask? My point. Bars need to sell drinks to keep the lights on. And the last ditch, like their their mask mandate, is a mandate against buying drinks, right? I don't need to have an MBA to tell them why they're not making money. I also did a little bit of diving and I went on the last ditch's website, and they have a few house rules that are really like, wow. That's what I thought when I was reading them. I was like, wow. So their first rule is you have to be kind, have fun, build community. Okay, awesome, off to a great start, right? But then we get into number two. So their number two house rule: non-lesbians are more than welcome. We simply ask that you respect that this is a space built with lesbian community at the center of its mission. And this is where I think it starts to not really cater to lesbians. A better rule, in my opinion, would be that: hey, look, this is a female-only bar. But if you're accompanied by a lesbian, you can enter. Or, you know, I know in Toronto, some of the women loving women events here require two females to accompany one male. So I think that that needs to be very clear because lesbians are female homosexuals. So if they are a lesbian bar, that should mean that they need to make it very clear that look, this is a single-sex space, which is not clear here. Okay, house rule number three: racism, misogynist, transmisogyny, ableism, transphobia, homophobia, lesbophobia, and any other discrimination will not be tolerated. Anyone who doesn't abide will be asked to leave the space if necessary and provided with an opportunity to engage in an accountability process if deemed appropriate by those harmed. What? Like that is my that was my reaction when I read that. I was like, what? This this rule, like the first thing that came to mind when I read this rule was I think this bar caters to heterosexual males who wrongly identify as lesbians. And if that's the case, the last ditch, you're being homophobic. You're being homophobic, you know, because what is discrimination? Like, what if a male approaches a lesbian and says, hey, I'm a lesbian too, and the lesbian's like, I'm I am a lesbian, right? I don't date you. Is the lesbian gonna be kicked out for being a lesbian? I don't know. I read this and that's what I think. But I also want to say that applying this rule, it just sounds like an HR nightmare. Nothing says, in my opinion, fun night out like a threat of restorative justice. I don't know. That's just my thoughts. Okay, rule number four. Yes, there's more rules. Wearing a well-fitted N95 mask or better is required at all times. Contact the venue ahead of time to talk about an exception. Anyone who simply refuses without engaging in good faith conversation to reach an accommodation will be asked to leave the space if necessary and provided with an opportunity to engage in an accountability process if deemed appropriate. What is this accountability process? Like, that's the question I have. You know, and I'm just like, okay, what happens if you actually do have somebody who has a medical reason to not wear a mask? I get that you mentioned that there might be an accommodation, but I don't know. I just read this rule and I just think this would not work for a bar. It's a business killer. You know? Okay, yes, there's more rules. Rule number five: consent is mandatory in all interactions. No one is permitted to touch anyone in any way without getting express verbal consent. Anything that is not a yes or hell yes is a hell no. Maintain consent before touching people and their assistive devices, such as wheelchairs, canes, hearing aids, etc. Now, the consent phrasing, like how they have it phrased, in my opinion, is overkill. I think a simple way to do it would have been, you know, simple is better. They could have said something like, be respectful and harassment will not be tolerated. I just think that if let's say you were to read the house rules before you went to this bar, would you even try to like talk to anybody? I don't know. Okay, rule number six. This is the last rule I'm gonna read. Nobody will be barred from entry due to lack of funds. Poor and unhoused people are welcome in the space. I don't know, man. Like, bars survive on revenue. Inviting people who cannot pay without guardrails is not a business strategy. There should be, in my opinion, an entry fee or a requirement to buy drinks, like at least one drink. That's how it is, even at coffee shops. If you want to sit at a table with your laptop, you have to buy coffee first. Why can anybody just enter your bar? Like, how are you gonna make any money if everybody can just be in for free? Like, even the people who can pay might not pay because they could just say, hey, look, I don't have the funds. And if your rules, right? These house rules, if they look more like terms of service for a social network, like you've already lost the plot. Once again, I don't need an NBA to know why the last ditch is on its last legs. Its house rules tell me everything. Anyways, that is the drama around the last ditch bar, which is not a lesbian bar in my opinion. And now I'm gonna go to my updates. If you're a fan of Dungeon Carl like I am, you're gonna love it. I'm hoping so bad to finish the second draft before the end of October and get it to my editor. And then I have to really start to get to work on the second book in the Lightlist series. It's coming together. I'm about 50% through it, and all I can say is that I don't think there's anything harder to write than a sequel. I'm also, like good news here, I'm having another really amazing sales month, and I absolutely love that. As you all know, the internet has tried to cancel me a million times for the crime of being a lesbian with boundaries who refuses to lie, like it's not my job or the job of lesbians to erase who and what we are for others, and it's not my job to make space for others. If the last ditch, in my opinion, was a little bit more like me, they'd probably be a lot more successful. Especially now that the tides are turning. All right, a lot of lesbians are peaking and they're fed up. You know, we're we're really fed up that we have to accept males. No, we don't like the opposite sex. Like, leave us alone. Like, what did lesbians ever do to these people? Nothing. Nothing. A lot of us were your allies. Like, seriously. Seriously. Male audacity has no place in lesbianism. Anyways, you know, my hope is that in a few more years there will be progress and we can get back to a place where boundaries are not seen as bigotry. Anyhow, that's it for now. Stay loud, stay proud, and talk next week.