We talk a lot about right-wing extremism here, but this is a good example of the opposite end of the spectrum. I put this here and not DT because it's difficult to discuss without getting political.

Original article from the Boston Globe last week (this is an archive.ph link): A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose.

Spot-on commentary from The Atlantic (another archive link): How to Destroy a Lesbian Bar

The gist: This bar, which opened last year, has always required masks. It's described as "a bar for 'dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers, and their friends". The owner decided to designate Saturdays (only Saturdays) as mask-optional. People lost their minds. I looked up this Soe Noire person on Instagram and he seems...insufferable.

One of Last Ditch’s most vocal critics, the head of another queer COVID-conscious collective in Western Massachusetts, a performer and artist who goes by Soe Noire, has been posting complaints about Last Ditch for days. Now, Noire joins the meeting on Zoom. He and other critics begin to flood the Zoom chat with irate messages, which are dutifully read aloud to the group.

When it comes time for one of the mediators, a licensed therapist, to speak, she takes a conciliatory tone.

“I love that you are here online,” she says. But “these platforms alienate us from each other. I’m talking about social media.” She asks whether participants can try to remove themselves from “places of righteousness.”

“I would love to get to a place where we all know each other’s face, where we all know each other’s name,” she continues.

“It’s messed up that the mediator is dismissing those attending virtually. That’s not accessibility,” someone responds in the chat.

“A lot of people are calling for an acknowledgment of harm and I’m hearing a WHITE therapist ... center[ing] the feelings of a majority white and white adjacent staff,” writes Noire, who is Black.

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.”

Edited September 29Sep 29 by austingirl

Relatable

• 
• Cartoons Hate Her! @CartoonsHateHer

For the record I spent like an hour explaining the KN95 lesbian bar story to my husband last night and I briefly was going to explain the side character of the crushed velvet hijab person but realized his brain might completely short circuit so I left them out

• 9:14 PM · Sep 24, 2026

October Surprise.

wat?

This all seems very dumb.

• 
• Benjamin Ryan @benryanwriter

I asked the legendary he/him trans lesbian bête noire of the long Covid bar, Soe Noire, if I could interview him, and he did not disappoint, saying:

“hell naw

“your eyes are untrustworthy and your face is upsetting me. please shift”

I don’t even know what that means, but I am

• 4:23 AM · Sep 27, 2026

• 
• Benjamin Ryan @benryanwriter · Sep 24, 2026

Soe Noire, the He/Him Trans Lesbian Bête Noire of the Lesbian Long Covid Bar, Speaks!

He says the bar’s new mask-free Saturdays, announced in “wildly inaccessible post in tiny ass writing” are “very much aligned with the capitalist, ableist, white supremacist dystopia that we

I love this discourse so hard and I’m thrilled that it seems to have entered a second week.

In the interest of full disclosure, I'm pretty sure that "masked lesbian" is a pretty common internet search term for many of the posters around here.

21 minutes ago, austingirl said:

We talk a lot about right-wing extremism here, but this is a good example of the opposite end of the spectrum. I put this here and not DT because it's difficult to discuss without getting political.

Original article from the Boston Globe last week (this is an archive.ph link): A Western Mass. lesbian bar required KN-95 masks. When it changed the rules, all hell broke loose.

Spot-on commentary from The Atlantic (another archive link): How to Destroy a Lesbian Bar

The gist: This bar, which opened last year, has always required masks. It's described as "a bar for 'dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers, and their friends". The owner decided to designate Saturdays (only Saturdays) as mask-optional. People lost their minds. I looked up this Soe Noire person on Instagram and he seems...insufferable.

I think I saw some of this outcry a week or two ago. For an older white male, can someone help me to understand the outrage when an owner/operator of an establishment wants to run their business as they see fit? And if folks don't like the new rule changes, simply don't go to the bar that day? Or don't go to that bar anymore at all?

of course it's dumb. so expect some 'incredulous' gotcha! any moment now 😆

1 minute ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

I love this discourse so hard and I’m thrilled that it seems to have entered a second week.

Makes me miss Rush Limbaugh, who would absolutely be riding this story for weeks, always closing with "and this is how all liberals think."

Y'all are like a week late on this.

• 
• Press Gazette @pressgazette

The Boston Globe says one story about a lesbian bar lifting its mask mandate for one night a week generated 1,000 subscriptions, making it the “best performing story of the year” and currently on pace to “shatter all sorts of Globe records”

• 7:07 AM · Sep 24, 2026

Wild Lesbian Bar Story Shattering Boston Globe Records

There may be growing concerns about the future of media and the rise of AI, but one Boston outlet is shattering records and laughing all the way to the bank.

mediaite.com

5 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I think I saw some of this outcry a week or two ago. For an older white male, can someone help me to understand the outrage when an owner/operator of an establishment wants to run their business as they see fit? And if folks don't like the new rule changes, simply don't go to the bar that day? Or don't go to that bar anymore at all?

They did stop going to the bar, which nearly went out of business. One owner went to clown school.

Of course, now it’s the hottest bar in the country and things are going as you might expect.

• 
• زكريا 🇸🇩 @Afroletariat

This bar wants to fail so badly

• 12:48 AM · Sep 28, 2026

• 
• New York Post @nypost · Sep 27, 2026

Paranoid owner of woke Mass. lesbian bar puts big restrictions on mask-free Saturday over 'infiltrator' fear https://t.co/fFVKmOEdDd

Dumb question amnesty, but how do they drink at the bar if they're so mask militant. No wonder the place was losing money.

Swear to god I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum. It's very easy to make fun of lesbians, especially radical lesbians, I get it, and pretty much everyone but the trans bartender in the Globe story is some variety of "insane." Ultimately, though, this is a story that shouldn't have had an audience outside of Massachusetts. Instead it's now being massively amplified in an effort to further marginalize the left in general and the queer community in particular. It affects literally no one but people in the story and those around them. Meanwhile, actual Nazis in our government..

That's all I've gotta say about the issue. You can now return to making fun of women and trans people who were trying to make a radically inclusive space for their community, however misguided, incorrect, or unproductively they may have gone about doing so.

Edited September 29Sep 29 by safe sex

16 minutes ago, SydneyCarton said:

I think I saw some of this outcry a week or two ago. For an older white male, can someone help me to understand the outrage when an owner/operator of an establishment wants to run their business as they see fit? And if folks don't like the new rule changes, simply don't go to the bar that day? Or don't go to that bar anymore at all?

They aren't dealing with a rational clientele. This is the part about them bringing in two mediators to facilitate conversations between the owners and patrons....

But over time, foot traffic to the bar slowed. More and more visitors said they didn’t have the cover fee; the bar let them in anyway. The owners fell behind on bills and couldn’t pay themselves or the people who worked there. So, after consulting with the Massachusetts LGBT Chamber of Commerce, they came up with a plan to bend one of their rules — and hopefully attract more customers.

But by the time of Last Ditch’s monthly community meeting on September 11, only one of the original founders, Matellian, is still involved. The two others stepped back from the daily operation months before, Matellian says, citing various pressures and health issues. One had enrolled in clown school.

There are some 10 people, seated in a circle on the dance floor, all wearing masks: Matellian, a handful of volunteers, some bar patrons, and two designated mediators who will facilitate conversations between parties who disagree. Another 10 or 15 people join the meeting via Zoom. The plan is to go clockwise, sharing views on the masking decision and the financial future of the bar. Each person has two minutes to speak. It begins with a calming breath exercise.

Almost immediately, the proceedings are derailed.

One of Last Ditch’s most vocal critics, the head of another queer COVID-conscious collective in Western Massachusetts, a performer and artist who goes by Soe Noire, has been posting complaints about Last Ditch for days. Now, Noire joins the meeting on Zoom. He and other critics begin to flood the Zoom chat with irate messages, which are dutifully read aloud to the group.

When it comes time for one of the mediators, a licensed therapist, to speak, she takes a conciliatory tone.

“I love that you are here online,” she says. But “these platforms alienate us from each other. I’m talking about social media.” She asks whether participants can try to remove themselves from “places of righteousness.”

“I would love to get to a place where we all know each other’s face, where we all know each other’s name,” she continues.

“It’s messed up that the mediator is dismissing those attending virtually. That’s not accessibility,” someone responds in the chat.

“A lot of people are calling for an acknowledgment of harm and I’m hearing a WHITE therapist ... center[ing] the feelings of a majority white and white adjacent staff,” writes Noire, who is Black.

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.”

When Matellian’s turn comes to speak, she begins haltingly. She had never envisioned running Last Ditch alone. “It was not my passion project,” she says. “My main goal was to support Sage and Asa,” the other two founders. Her voice cracks.

“I never really wanted to do this,” Matellian says, beginning to cry under her mask. “I don’t think I’m doing a very good job.”

Matellian tells the group her credit score is trashed. For six months, she lived in her truck because she was pouring money into the bar. She is working four different jobs. She is responsible for paying off the $50,000 loan the three took out to launch the business.

The online critics are unmoved. “[Y]ou chose to use your time to spill tears and center your feelings,” Noire posts in the chat. “This is incredibly racist and deflecting behavior.”

Eventually, after 3½ hours of discussion, the meeting wraps up. Noire has more to say, but when someone suggests he come to the next community meeting, he refuses. “There’s a lot of emotional and physical labor that goes into this, so for you as a white person that asks for me to stay for another meeting for free,” he says, is “incredibly disingenuous and racist. I’m not doing that.”

“Then I think, unfortunately, this meeting has failed you,” replies a facilitator, “and I’m sorry.”

The in-person participants file up the metal stairs, past the native plant garden, and out to their cars. Little has been resolved. Last Ditch’s landlord wants $3,900 in back rent by Monday.

Noire spends the hours after the meeting posting furious Instagram stories about Matellian and Last Ditch. Matellian (who uses she/they pronouns) had been shedding “WHITE THEY THEM TEARS,” he writes. The bar was not “a safe environment nor interested in revolutionary praxis.”

I reach Noire, who identifies as a gender-expansive lesbian and uses he/him pronouns, by Zoom a few days later. I ask whether he has any sympathy for those running Last Ditch, given the profound financial strain they are under. “No,” he replies. (Noire asked to be referred to by his stage name because he says he has been stalked and fears for his safety.) “I’m not going to give grace” when someone is “spreading rhetoric that can and will get people hurt,” he says, referring to the fact that the bar’s account had “liked” a few comments supporting the relaxed rule.

No better way to entrap a bunch of communal narcissists than a post-pandemic, mask-required public space.

4 minutes ago, safe sex said:

That's all I've gotta say about the issue. You can now return to making fun of women and trans people who were trying to make a radically inclusive space for their community, however misguided, incorrect, or unproductively they may have gone about doing so.

I think most of these people's desire to appear inclusive far outweighs their desire to actually create an inclusive space.

I think "most" is doing a lot of the right's heavy lifting there.

2 minutes ago, safe sex said:

Swear to god I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum. It's very easy to make fun of lesbians, especially radical lesbians, I get it, and pretty much everyone but the trans bartender in the Globe story is some variety of "insane." Ultimately, though, this is a story that shouldn't have had an audience outside of Massachusetts. Instead it's now being massively amplified in an effort to further marginalize the left in general and the queer community in particular. It affects literally no one but people in the story and those around them. Meanwhile, actual Nazis in our government..

That's all I've gotta say about the issue. You can now return to making fun of women and trans people who were trying to make a radically inclusive space for their community, however misguided, incorrect, or unproductively they may have gone about doing so.

I actually think it is a potentially very interesting case study in the relationship between niche businesses and the often marginalized communities who patronize them. I haven't read much because, like you, I don't want to give the story much air because it should only be a local news story, but from what I've read it sounds a lot like a very dysfunctional family situation where if things aren't exactly like each side wants then one side is willing to just blow up all the relationships.

In that sense it's fascinating in a sad way.

What? Lgbtq people have idiots too?

Welcome to the club. Frankly I dont see what their lifestyles, identity, or whatever they do with their genitals have to do with any of this. It only matters to bigots.

8 minutes ago, safe sex said:

Swear to god I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum. It's very easy to make fun of lesbians, especially radical lesbians, I get it, and pretty much everyone but the trans bartender in the Globe story is some variety of "insane." Ultimately, though, this is a story that shouldn't have had an audience outside of Massachusetts. Instead it's now being massively amplified in an effort to further marginalize the left in general and the queer community in particular. It affects literally no one but people in the story and those around them. Meanwhile, actual Nazis in our government..

That's all I've gotta say about the issue. You can now return to making fun of women and trans people who were trying to make a radically inclusive space for their community, however misguided, incorrect, or unproductively they may have gone about doing so.

It goes without saying that I now have to vote Republican because of this. Even though I lost my farm and my wife was deported. Kills me to do it, tho.

3 minutes ago, Huckleberry said:

I actually think it is a potentially very interesting case study in the relationship between niche businesses and the often marginalized communities who patronize them. I haven't read much because, like you, I don't want to give the story much air because it should only be a local news story, but from what I've read it sounds a lot like a very dysfunctional family situation where if things aren't exactly like each side wants then one side is willing to just blow up all the relationships.

In that sense it's fascinating in a sad way.

Also, can I reiterate how annoyed I am when I have to give @Huckleberry pos rep.

Edited September 29Sep 29 by Bateshorn

• 
• Karen McGee @karenmotherof2

I mean realistically how is Drake Maye supposed to perform at a high level when in the back of his mind he’s probably thinking about the Western Mass lesbian bar relaxing its masking rules

• 12:55 AM · Sep 29, 2026

Just now, Bateshorn said:

Also, can I reiterate how annoyed I am when I have to give Huckleberry pos rep.

Like

Just now, Huckleberry said:

ICONIC gif choice

I love that there are businesses that cater to marginalized sectors of society. Rock on.

I don't know what's going on here, but I couldn't find my glasses this morning, either, so maybe I'm not the best commentator.

Are we angry?

23 minutes ago, We’reTexas said:

They did stop going to the bar, which nearly went out of business. One owner went to clown school.

the simulation needs better writers

Just now, jimmyjazz said:

I love that there are businesses that cater to marginalized sectors of society. Rock on.

I don't know what's going on here, but I couldn't find my glasses this morning, either, so maybe I'm not the best commentator.

Are we angry?

Yes, we're angry. We just need to sort out whether we are (a) angry lesbians, (b) angry AT lesbians, (C) angry at people who don't respect lesbians, (d) angry at mask bans, (e) angry at people who don't continue with mask bans, (f) angry at lazy journalists, (g) angry at a society that makes this non-story a story, or just (h) angry at everything and everyone. About everything.

I have every intention of becoming twice the dyke I am now once I get to San Francisco.

20 minutes ago, safe sex said:

Swear to god I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum. It's very easy to make fun of lesbians, especially radical lesbians, I get it, and pretty much everyone but the trans bartender in the Globe story is some variety of "insane." Ultimately, though, this is a story that shouldn't have had an audience outside of Massachusetts. Instead it's now being massively amplified in an effort to further marginalize the left in general and the queer community in particular. It affects literally no one but people in the story and those around them. Meanwhile, actual Nazis in our government..

That's all I've gotta say about the issue. You can now return to making fun of women and trans people who were trying to make a radically inclusive space for their community, however misguided, incorrect, or unproductively they may have gone about doing so.

I hope I didn't come across as making fun of them. The bar's mission and values are awesome and I feel very badly for the remaining owner. She's just trying to keep her business afloat and took a very reasonable action (IMO) to address this, and instead is being given hell by some online extremists.

7 minutes ago, safe sex said:

I have every intention of becoming twice the dyke I am now once I get to San Francisco.

34 minutes ago, safe sex said:

Swear to god I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum. It's very easy to make fun of lesbians, especially radical lesbians, I get it, and pretty much everyone but the trans bartender in the Globe story is some variety of "insane." Ultimately, though, this is a story that shouldn't have had an audience outside of Massachusetts. Instead it's now being massively amplified in an effort to further marginalize the left in general and the queer community in particular. It affects literally no one but people in the story and those around them. Meanwhile, actual Nazis in our government..

That's all I've gotta say about the issue. You can now return to making fun of women and trans people who were trying to make a radically inclusive space for their community, however misguided, incorrect, or unproductively they may have gone about doing so.

Are you not aware of what we do here?

13 minutes ago, austingirl said:

I hope I didn't come across as making fun of them. The bar's mission and values are awesome and I feel very badly for the remaining owner. She's just trying to keep her business afloat and took a very reasonable action (IMO) to address this, and instead is being given hell by some online extremists.

I didn't think you were making fun of them, but I do disagree with your assertion that the Atlantic article was spot-on criticism. The tone of that article is horrendous, and is filled with completely unnecessary asides that boil down to "look at these wacky queers!" I looked up the author, and surprise, she's someone who is very "I used to support trans people but then some online trans people were mean to me and now maybe JK Rowling is right" coded. Maybe not. But she also left out the fact that noted transphobe Jesse Singal is the co-host of the podcast that was the first outlet to talk about the bar (pre-dating the Globe story by a week or two I believe).

Just asking questions, ya know?

Edited September 29Sep 29 by safe sex

6 minutes ago, Chad Fuck said:

Are you not aware of what we do here?

I believe we can be better than we are, Mr. Fuck

1 minute ago, safe sex said:

I believe we can be better than we are, Mr. Fuck

Have you MET "us"?

I wish just once in my life someone would address me as "Mr. Fuck".

No, my name ain't Baby

It's Chad

Mr Fuck if you're nasty

5 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I wish just once in my life someone would address me as "Mr. Fuck".

Ahem, my DAD was "Mr. Fuck." I'm just "Fucky" to my friends.

53 minutes ago, safe sex said:

Swear to god I'm not trying to yuck anyone's yum. It's very easy to make fun of lesbians, especially radical lesbians, I get it, and pretty much everyone but the trans bartender in the Globe story is some variety of "insane." Ultimately, though, this is a story that shouldn't have had an audience outside of Massachusetts. Instead it's now being massively amplified in an effort to further marginalize the left in general and the queer community in particular. It affects literally no one but people in the story and those around them.

I disagree. I actually think it’s really important, and where I’ve seen it amplified most has been in leftist spaces, by leftists, because we’ve all seen this.

As I said on the other thread where it came up, I think this is a perfect example of how intersectionality is weaponized and becomes a vector for bullies and attracts bad actors seeking interpersonal power when economic solidarity is removed from the center of leftist politics.

If “the queer community” and “the left in general” didn’t tolerate unkindness and gaslighting of allies and each other when it has the right combination of demographic victim boxes attached, we all wouldn’t be enjoying this so much.

57 minutes ago, MissingInAction said:

What? Lgbtq people have idiots too?

Welcome to the club. Frankly I dont see what their lifestyles, identity, or whatever they do with their genitals have to do with any of this. It only matters to bigots.

1 hour ago, safe sex said:

That's all I've gotta say about the issue.

is it tho?

I don't disagree with most of what you're saying there @Bozo_Casanova because, as you write, we've all seen some flavor of this.

But where is this behavior in a context of actual political power, instead of a failing dyke bar in a bummer of a western Mass town? Can we get as "good" a piece of writing about those events instead of something like that? Is anything as perfectly dramatic happening where it really matters?

Just now, SuingToGetAMessageBoard? said:

is it tho?

Yeah yeah, it's like a wrestler saying they've had their last match.

This belongs in the Seahorses eating my face thread.

30 minutes ago, jimmyjazz said:

I wish just once in my life someone would address me as "Mr. Fuck".

Maybe somebody will misread your name someday and call you "Mr. Jizz."

This whole.....whatever this is (situation? Controversy? Story? Nothing feels quite accurate...) seems it could be one of the plotlines from Infinite Jest.