Last Ditch Bar Lifts Saturday Mask Rule, Triggering Boycott as $3,900 Rent Deadline Looms
Updated
Updated · Fox News · Sep 23
Last Ditch Bar Lifts Saturday Mask Rule, Triggering Boycott as $3,900 Rent Deadline Looms
3 articles · Updated · Fox News · Sep 23
Summary
One mask-optional night a week at Greenfield’s Last Ditch Bar set off accusations of ableism, boycott calls and violent online rhetoric, even though the change was meant to revive a struggling business.
Nearly empty Saturday crowds have persisted despite drink deals and DJs, leaving the policy shift ineffective as owner Jackie Matellian says the bar cannot pay staff, bills or itself.
Matellian told a Sept. 11 community meeting she had lived in her truck for six months, was carrying a $50,000 loan and now needs $3,900 for the landlord by month-end.
Critics also attacked the bar’s apology and accessibility practices, then challenged the use of a white therapist as mediator, widening the dispute beyond masking into race and disability politics.
The clash has become a test of whether a venue founded to serve disabled and queer patrons can survive after loosening a COVID-era rule years after most mandates ended.