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Boston Globe: Queer Community Splintered Over Lesbian Bar That Dropped Strict Mask Mandate

Brett T.
Brett T.  |  9:00 PM on September 22, 2026

Yes, this post is from today, and it's about a current event. A lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts, has eased its strict mask mandate in 2026, which has reportedly splintered the queer community in the city. This editor has questions. First, you can't drink with a mask on. Second, maybe a lesbian bar has other reasons for wanting its patrons masked.

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The Boston Globe reports:

The August 31 Instagram post from Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue, a lesbian bar in Greenfield, was upbeat, teasing a new DJ lineup and a volunteer meetup. But partway down the rainbow-hued post labeled “UPDATES!” was a sentence that would splinter the queer community in this small Pioneer Valley city and beyond.

“It is with love we inform our immunocompromised disabled divas we will be opening Saturday nights as mask optional,” wrote Last Ditch.

Previously, patrons were required to wear a well-fitted KN-95 mask “or better” at all times.

The new policy was not received with love.

“Just say you’re being complicit in a mass disabling event and get it over with,” wrote one commenter.

“people like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience,” posted another.

“I hope your venue gets firebombed for robbing my fellow immunocompromised people of their Saturday plans just to scrape extra revenue from ablists [sic],” wrote a third.

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So, one night a week, the bar was going mask-optional. In 2026.

The bar apologized in an Instagram post, but that only made things worse, as it wasn't an accessible Instagram post. "Instead of defusing the situation, the apology seemed to make things worse," The Globe reports. "The bar had erred: it posted an Instagram card without providing alt-text for the visually impaired."

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We wanted to see if Taylor Lorenz had weighed in, but instead we heard from Asa Rosario, a drag performer who uses it/its pronouns, who envisioned "a venue where it and its friends could perform."

Yes, there are photos. It's a real place, and this is a real story. It's behind a paywall, but we can assure you the whole thing is amazing. Check this out:

Moreover, the Zoom attendees speculate that the mediator’s licensed status makes her a mandated reporter — an agent of the state, akin to police. One person going by “Moss” asks if the mediator could have them hospitalized against their will, adding that her presence is “wildly unsafe.”

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