Jackie Matellian, the last remaining owner of a Massachusetts lesbian bar, has publicly admitted she is struggling to keep the venue afloat after a COVID-era mask policy change ignited weeks of online fury and an explosive in-person confrontation.
Matellian, 26, told attendees at a September 11 “accountability session” that she never wanted to run Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue in Greenfield alone and feels she is failing at the job. The meeting, held both in-person and over Zoom, came days before the Boston Globe reported on the backlash that has engulfed the small queer venue since it eased its strict masking rules.
“It was not my passion project. I never really wanted to do this…. I don’t think I’m doing a very good job,” Matellian said at the session, according to the Globe.
Matellian has been the bar’s sole owner since her two original co-founders departed, including one who reportedly left for clown school. She has been living in her car for six months while carrying a $50,000 business loan, she told the meeting.
The bar opened in 2025 with a mandate requiring all patrons to wear a KN-95 respirator “or better” at all times, designed to keep the space accessible to immunocompromised and COVID-conscious guests. On August 31, Last Ditch announced on Instagram that it would begin “opening Saturday nights as mask optional” to experiment with “typical club nights with themes/hosts/DJs/full capacity.” The post insisted accessibility remained “a pillar” of the mission and promised a recurring monthly “Masked Social” alongside masked bookings.
Hundreds of critics flooded the comments. One social media user accused the venue of “being complicit in a mass disabling event,” the Globe reported. The Boston Globe’s September 23 coverage pushed the dispute far beyond Greenfield’s small queer community.
The controversy turned physical at the bar’s first mask-optional Saturday, a goth night that nearly collapsed before it began. More than a dozen patrons who arrived at Last Ditch were initially turned away and told to return three hours later while staff held an emergency meeting. When close to 100 people came back, they were told the night had become a “private event” due to unspecified “safety breaches,” and that anyone who could not name someone inside would be denied entry. Those who did get in reportedly had to surrender their IDs to staff, who held onto them until they left.
Soe Noire, a patron and performer, directly challenged Matellian at the September 11 accountability session. Noire told the room that Matellian had wasted time on emotional displays rather than addressing concerns.
“you chose to use your time to spill tears and center your feelings. This is incredibly racist and deflecting behavior,” Noire said, according to the Globe. He added that as “a Black person with other marginalized identities,” he no longer felt safe at the venue.
After the meeting went viral, Last Ditch used Instagram to defend Noire from what it called “anti-Blackness hysteria.” The post stated he had received “threats, slurs and harassment” and was being “reported to the police over something he did not do.”
Despite the weeks of online uproar, fewer than a dozen people wore masks on the mask-optional night itself. Patricia Sonaike, 24, a junior at UMass Amherst, said she had expected the change to make the bar “more inclusive.” Pete, 43, from nearby Northampton, said going maskless “just feels off-putting.”
The chaotic goth night unfolded with staff reportedly convinced the club was being “infiltrated,” leading to the emergency meeting, the ID confiscations, and the “private event” designation that turned away patrons who could not name an insider. Matellian has not announced any changes to the mask-optional Saturday policy or the monthly “Masked Social” going forward.