Viral Massachusetts lesbian bar announces it will be 'soft closing' after easing mask rules
Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue, a Massachusetts lesbian bar that went viral for its masking policy last month, announced Monday that it would be closing and seeking a buyer for the business.
"WE ARE CLOSING. We have put our lives on hold to foster networks of care, resources, and a home base for organizing. It's time we pass it on. We've been fighting since the beginning to fill out the team, and we still don't have a board/leadership to manage workers owned Co-op transfer. We are SOFT CLOSING effective immediately, all BOOKED events will CONTINUE, otherwise we are CLOSED," the bar wrote on Instagram.
"We need new owners ASAP, we close this winter," the bar also wrote.
Fox News Digital reached out to the bar for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
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Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue went viral last month after The Boston Globe reported that it would be lifting its mask mandate for one night a week.
Some critics accused the Massachusetts bar's owners of putting disabled people at risk and compared the policy change to a "mass disabling event" and a "eugenicist" attack while also making threats against the establishment.
After The Boston Globe article was published, a Massachusetts chapter of the Communist Party released a statement condemning the piece for being used as a tool to divide the LGBTQ community.
"The Western Massachusetts CPUSA rejects the use of conflicts among LGBTQIA+ people and organizations as a tool of division by the extreme right. We reaffirm our solidarity with all those struggling against the genocide of transgender people," the statement read.
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Fox News host and comedian Jimmy Failla and Fox News contributor Kennedy mocked the story on Failla's "Fox Across America" show last month.
"Here's where the free market is beautiful," Kennedy said. "If there's a market for this, and you sell yourselves as safe and mask mandatory and all that stuff and that's when you're making your money, have at it. If that is not working, let the market decide."
Failla added, "In a post-Covid world, we placated the biggest moon bats, people we would have otherwise had laughed at and dismissed. And now, unfortunately, this is a big thing on the left that they created. They call these people the heroes, the pioneers and the people worth celebrating. So now, they just show up and air grievances, and they expect to be catered to. But you know who doesn't cater to that? The free market, like you said. And now this business is going under."
The Boston Globe previously reported that the bar was struggling financially before altering its mask policies. Two of its owners stepped back from daily operations months ago, including one who had enrolled in clown school and another who is a drag performer using it/its pronouns.
Jackie Matellian, the remaining owner involved in daily operations, lived in her truck for six months, working four jobs and carrying a $50,000 loan.