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Maher Criticizes Left Over Backlash Against Massachusetts Lesbian Bar
ReMaher Criticizes Left Over Backlash Against Massachusetts Lesbian Bar
Comedian Bill Maher defended a Greenfield, Massachusetts lesbian bar that faced community fury after making Saturday nights mask-optional, calling the reaction an example of left-wing intolerance.
Comedian Bill Maher used his HBO show «Real Time» to criticize far-left activists who attacked a struggling Massachusetts lesbian bar for lifting its COVID-era mask mandate one night a week. The bar, Last Ditch Bar and Arts Venue in Greenfield, became the center of a national controversy after The Boston Globe reported on community backlash to its decision to make Saturday nights mask-optional.
Maher described the bar as «a very woke bar, which is fine,» and read its mission statement, which welcomes «dykes, transsexuals, gender freaks, workers and friends.» He joked about the ordering of the list, noting that «workers and friends» came last. But he quickly turned to the bar's financial troubles, which he said made the policy change necessary.
According to the Globe, the bar had been losing money even before the mask controversy. Many patrons said they could not afford the cover charge, and the bar allowed them in anyway. Homeless people were welcome, though police were not. One of the owners was living in her truck because the business was failing. In an effort to keep the doors open, Last Ditch announced on Aug. 31 via Instagram that Saturday nights would become mask-optional, writing, «It is with love we inform our immunocompromised disabled divas we will be opening Saturday nights as mask optional.»
The backlash was immediate. Locals gathered at a monthly community meeting on Sept. 11 to voice their anger. Virtual attendees criticized the owners, and the meeting grew tense when some objected to a mediator, a licensed White therapist. One person complained about «a WHITE therapist … center[ing] the feelings of a majority white and white adjacent staff,» the Globe reported.
Maher seized on the reaction, saying, «And of course, the tolerant left did what they always do — became very intolerant and left.» He quoted comments reportedly made by critics, including «People like you kill disabled people in the name of your own leisure and convenience,» and «I hope your venue gets firebombed.» Maher called this «the level of hatred that is out there.»
NewsBusters Executive Editor Tim Graham told Fox News Digital that the story went viral because it seemed shocking that a mask mandate was still in place at a bar in 2026. «I imagine many people can feel more than a hint of the old COVID authoritarianism in the virulent leftist reaction to a single mask-optional night at this establishment,» Graham said. He added that the same critics were likely angry at the Globe for publishing the story and did not care that the bar was a financial mess.
Graham also said Maher has a tendency to go against the grain and can be harsh about left-wing intolerance, even though he was a strong supporter of Barack Obama. «He's been very rough on organized religion, and can bring the pain to other strains of fundamentalism,» Graham said.
Fox News Digital reached out to Last Ditch Bar for comment. The episode highlights ongoing tensions over pandemic-era policies and the boundaries of acceptable criticism within progressive communities.
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