What Happened at the Long-Covid Lesbian Bar?

The most famous bar in America, as of this week, is Last Ditch—a small, failing lesbian bar in Greenfield, Massachusetts, with $10 Negronis and a masking policy more fit for a CDC containment lab than a bar.

The reason for Last Ditch’s sudden infamy is an article published by The Boston Globe on Monday—an article that reached the sort of stratospheric virality that most journalists (and bars) could only dream of.

The simple, straightforward headline, “Greenfield Lesbian Bar Last Ditch Faces Mask-Rule Backlash,” did not adequately describe the crazy within. With lines like “Customers fondly remember a raucous opening night with a (clothed) simulation of a lesbian sex act—masks in place,” it’s not hard to see the appeal. Semafor’s Max Tani reported that the story has already netted the Globe 1,000 new subscribers.

The article, by Annalisa Quinn, was the first that most of America, and the internet, had heard of the Last Ditch, but I’ve been covering this particular drinking establishment for weeks on my podcast Blocked and Reported. And while I’ve never had the pleasure of visiting it, after years of covering idealistic, politically progressive, and often queer institutions that collapse under the weight of staff or customers’ demands, to me, the story of Last Ditch is a familiar one.