\u201cMore than a third of gay bars closed in a 12-year period,\u201d\u00a0 Mattson said in an interview with ABC7<\/a>. \u201cAnd yet, in most parts of the country, gay bars are the only public LGBTQ+ place.\u201d<\/p>\n Save the Walrus: Crowdfunding<\/p>\n For UNF students, The Walrus feels permanent. It\u2019s the Tuesday karaoke spot, the venue where campus bands play their first shows, and a place patrons like Quinn Gomez say feels \u201clike home.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n Behind the karaoke or open mic nights, Michael says the bar is struggling to stay open.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery month is like a journey and trying to figure that out,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n Michael has run The Walrus for nearly five years, stepping in after the friends who originally opened it struggled to get it off the ground.\u00a0<\/p>\n On Sept. 20, The Walrus posted a message to its Instagram followers: \u201cREAL TALK: WE HAVE 48 HOURS TO SAVE THE WALRUS AGAIN :(\u201d The post asked the bar\u2019s 17,000 followers to each chip in a dollar.<\/p>\n Michael wrote that the Walrus\u2019s financial troubles mirrored a national trend.<\/p>\n \u201cLet\u2019s talk about how 98% of small businesses are failing within the first five years in this country,\u201d he wrote, adding that rising rents and costs since the pandemic have hit small, community-run venues especially hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThis isn\u2019t about hard work or better business plans. It\u2019s systemic,\u201d he wrote, arguing that entrepreneurship increasingly requires generational wealth, private equity backing, or luck to survive.<\/p>\n \u201cAmerica is tired, overworked, underpaid and over it, and we all need a space to find the spirit to do it again another day,\u201d Michael wrote.<\/p>\n Less than 48 hours later, the bar had raised more than $11,000 across Venmo, Cash App and in-store cash donations, enough, Michael said, to cover the bar\u2019s past-due rent for a second time.\u00a0<\/p>\n Hamburger Mary\u2019s 2.0 Across the street from The Walrus sits the remnants of Hamburger Mary\u2019s 2.0. A giant French fry costume sits behind the semi-covered glass doors, glaring back at those who pass by the venue\u2019s shuttered doors.<\/p>\n Hamburger Mary\u2019s, a drag-themed bar and restaurant, opened in 2012 and closed its original<\/a> Beach Boulevard location after a 2023 electrical fire, according to Jacksonville Today.<\/p>\n Hamburger Mary\u2019s later reopened in Murray Hill in February 2025 under new owner Jordyn Shepherd, across the street from The Walrus.<\/p>\n Shepherd, a performer who worked at Jacksonville\u2019s original Hamburger Mary\u2019s, told the Florida Times-Union in November 2024 that she \u201csold my house to make this work<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n Court records show a judge issued an eviction order that month, First Coast News reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n Shepherd ran two public fundraisers earlier that year, including a $7,000 GoFundMe citing rent<\/a>, operating costs and a broken air conditioner unit, and denied online allegations that she\u2019d failed to pay staff, according to First Coast News.<\/p>\n The popular drag venue closed for good in July 2026, just eighteen months after it reopened. First Coast News reported<\/a> a handwritten sign was taped to the door.<\/p>\n Bo\u2019s Coral Reef<\/p>\n Hamburger Mary\u2019s isn\u2019t the only queer establishment to close its doors despite widespread acclaim; the first Jacksonville gay bar, \u201cBo\u2019s Coral Reef,\u201d closed in 2019.<\/p>\n In 1964, Roverta \u201cBo\u201d Boen opened the first gay bar in Duval County, a Jacksonville Beach cocktail lounge that grew into Bo\u2019s Coral Reef, according to News4Jax<\/a>. Known for its drinks, music and drag shows, the bar spent more than five decades as a fixture of the city\u2019s LGBTQ nightlife.\u00a0<\/p>\n In January 2019, Bo\u2019s owners announced on social media that they were selling the bar and that it would close for good.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cTonight I want to announce that I am selling the bar and we will be closing our doors for the final time on Tuesday, Jan. 22 at 2 a.m.,\u201d the post read, according to News4Jax<\/a>. \u201cThe Bo\u2019s Family will forever be grateful for the gratitude and love shown by every person that has walked through our doors.\u201d<\/p>\n Less than a month later, the bar hosted a \u201cLast Dance\u201d farewell disco party on its last night before closing after 55 years, ending one of the longest runs any LGBTQ+ venue in Jacksonville has had.<\/p>\n \u201cThe patina of the place\u201d<\/p>\n Running a bar that doesn\u2019t pressure anyone to drink and funding a vegan-based menu comes at a cost, Michael said.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cThe financial model is for alcohol to exist, and that\u2019s very real,\u201d Michael said of bars like his. Rising food prices make it worse, especially with a fully vegan, made-from-scratch menu. \u201cFood costs are really high, and I don\u2019t know what the answer is in terms of financial stability,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Still, he\u2019s held the line on turning people away from The Walrus. \u201cNo one turned away for lack of funds,\u201d Michael said. \u201cIf all you can afford is the free water out of the cooler all night, you can come and hang out here and no one\u2019s gonna bother you about it.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n That generosity has limits, Michael said, reportedly getting \u201ca little spicy\u201d watching kids bring in drinks bought elsewhere instead of supporting the bar itself.<\/p>\n \u201cSupport your local trans person, that\u2019s working their ass off trying to keep this place alive,\u201d Michael said.<\/p>\n Love for The Walrus<\/p>\n Robert Kuropkat, a sophomore English and philosophy major at UNF, plays in the band Strung, formerly Quarter Life Crisis, which performed at The Walrus for a Student for Democratic Society fundraiser.<\/p>\n Most Jacksonville bars are \u201cvery cover-oriented,\u201d Kuropkat said, wanting familiar songs over original, heavier material.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Walrus was one of the few places built to let a band like his actually experiment, which is part of why its recent financial troubles hit Kuropkat harder than he expected.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI was not happy when I saw they might have to shut down, because that was the coolest lighting I\u2019ve seen in a long time,\u201d he said. \u201cThe Walrus was a place to experiment with new music. So losing a place to experiment with that is pretty difficult. Pretty big blow.\u201d<\/p>\n Quinn Gomez, a third-year Information Science major at UNF, says the stakes are less about the lighting and more about what the bar offers that most everyday spaces don\u2019t.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNon-queer people, there\u2019s not really any designated spaces they can go, because they kind of have the whole world as their oyster,\u201d Gomez said. \u201cWhereas for queer people, it\u2019s kind of harder for us to get around, because we\u2019re often looked at strangely in most everyday spaces.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI struggle to keep the doors open,\u201d Michael said. \u201cBut I think we can make it.\u201d<\/p>\n In less than 48 hours, The Walrus raised over $11k to pay the building\u2019s rent and fees, according to an Instagram post<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact [email\u00a0protected]<\/a>.<\/p>\n
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On Sept. 20, The Walrus posted to social media for a second time, asking its 17 thousand followers to donate to help the bar make its rent.<\/p>\n