University Club said it acted immediately after learning concerns about a DJ who is a registered sex offender, but some drag performers said management had known of his background for months.
Jason Eric Catron, now 46 years old, was one of seven DJs on University Club’s weekly entertainment roster, performing during the venue’s Sunday and Tuesday night events before his public removal Monday night.
Catron is a registered sex offender on the Florida Department of Law Enforcement online registry. According to the listing, Catron is on the offender registry for a 2004 conviction of lewd or lascivious battery involving a victim between the ages of 12 and 15.
According to an arrest statement from the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office, then-23-year-old Catron was arrested in November 2003 after a 15-year-old victim said he snuck into her home while her parents were asleep to engage in sexual activity.
Catron told police he was aware of the victim’s age and had a relationship with her for nearly six weeks. He was found guilty in 2004 and sentenced to a little over a year in prison followed by two years of probation.
After being released from prison, Catron was arrested again in March 2005 for violating the terms of his probation.
He was also arrested in 2017 for failing to update his sex offender registry information, though the charges were dropped because of memory issues he experienced from medication he was taking at the time.
Speaking out
As Gainesville’s only LGBTQ+ nightclub, University Club has long served as a gathering place for the local drag community. Now, some performers say the club’s response to concerns about a sex offender DJ has challenged the sense of safety and trust that helped define the venue’s role in the community.
The Alligator spoke to three performers who said the University Club knew of Catron’s history for months and did not remove him.
One of those performers is Phylaxxis, a drag artist who got their start at University Club eight years ago and later founded the Mascuerade, a show highlighting drag kings and alternative performers.
Phylaxxis publicly cut ties with University Club Monday, citing Catron’s continued presence as a factor in their decision. They said another performer raised the issue of Catron with the club owner after Phylaxxis’s departure but was directed to speak with the bar’s manager instead.
Catron’s removal from the DJ rotation was announced after Phylaxxis’s post.
Despite publicly criticizing the club, Phylaxxis said their goal was not to see University Club close but to encourage changes that would allow the venue to continue serving Gainesville as a LGBTQ+ safe space.
“I want the UC to survive this, and I'm really happy to see that they're making changes,” they said in reference to Catron’s removal as a DJ.
Phylaxxis moved to Georgia in 2021 and returned to Gainesville in 2024. They said Catron had already become one of the club’s DJs by the time they returned, though they are unsure exactly when he began working there.
Phylaxxis said the club’s Sunday and Tuesday drag nights, in which Catron performed, were centered around alternative drag performances and attracted a more diverse queer crowd.
“We’ve obviously had Gainesville’s worst-kept secret, this elephant in the room, hanging over us,” they said.
The alternative nights are meant to be safe and inclusive, Phylaxxis added, and Catron’s presence created “a major hurdle” to that effort.
Phylaxxis said they first became aware of Catron’s criminal history shortly after returning to Gainesville. They said the information circulated among performers after another local artist brought it to the group’s attention.
The drag king said they felt a responsibility to protect younger members of the queer community they mentor, expressing concern about Catron’s presence in a space where many young and impressionable performers gather.
According to Phylaxxis, performers had raised concerns about Catron multiple times, but those efforts were unsuccessful. They said performers suggested replacement DJs, including one willing to work for free, but the club declined to make the change because Catron was already working unpaid.
Phylaxxis said they believed communication with the owners was a larger issue, describing them as unresponsive to performers’ concerns.
“I got fed up with it,” they said. “I've produced my own shows, and I know that we can do better.”
University Club’s bar manager and owners did not respond to multiple requests for comment via text, phone call and social media message.
However, Kelly T. Kelly, the club’s entertainment director, said the bar declined to comment beyond the social media statement the club posted Monday.
Kelly clarified Catron worked as an independent contractor rather than a club employee and was not part of University Club’s staff.
“Our official comment is that the situation was immediately handled,” she wrote in a text message to The Alligator. “He was released from all duties and affiliations the INSTANT that the owner was notified people didn’t want him in the space.”
Two drag artists said concerns about Catron circulated within the drag community for years, but many people were hesitant to speak publicly because they feared backlash from University Club management.
Ventrixx, a local performer, said concerns raised to University Club were met with warnings that speaking publicly about Catron could result in consequences.
“The owners were just like, ‘We’re going to continue working with him. If you guys say anything, it’s going to be considered bullying,’” Ventrixx said. “‘And you guys will be banned from the bar.’”
Alice Mizer, another performer, said that kind of response from management helped keep the issue quiet.
“That just shows how they’re just trying to protect this narrative,” Mizer said.
Contact Julianna Bendeck at jbendeck@alligator.org.
Julianna Bendeck is a first-year journalism student and the Summer 2026 criminal justice reporter. She previously worked as a contributing writer and race and equity reporter at The Alligator. Outside the newsroom, she enjoys reading, surfing the web and playing video games.
