Biloxi bar owner and LGBTQ+ advocate is fighting for her life. ‘I’m tired but I’m not done.’
Lynn Koval is one of the most influential voices for the LGBTQ+ community on the Mississippi Coast.
But now, the vocal advocate for equality in Mississippi can barely emote a whisper.
Koval, 55, was diagnosed with stage four laryngeal cancer earlier this year and has undergone dozens of intense chemotherapy and radiation treatments at Singing River Cancer Center.
She’s lost her voice, appetite and the freedom to sit with her friends, her wife, Tamara Koval, and her twin sister, Lysa Broussard, at Just Us Lounge.
But Koval hasn’t lost her spirit and will to fight the disease attacking her from the inside.
“It’s scary,” she said. “but I’ve always felt highly spiritual and close to God.”
For decades, she’s kept the doors of Just Us – the oldest gay bar in the state – open 24 hours a day, seven days per week and 365 days each year for those who need a safe space, a place to be their authentic selves or to enjoy a great cocktail.
Just Us serves as a community meeting place in Biloxi and beyond in an area with limited resources and protections for LGBTQ+ people.
It’s where Biloxi celebrated when gay marriage became legal across the US and where people came to seek refuge in 2020 when then-President Donald Trump reversed transgender health protections. It’s where drag legends like Toni Dee and Nicole DuBois have performed for years and where families have held fundraisers and where couples have tied the knot.
The bar is also where Koval has spent much of her time over the last few decades, including in the last five years organizing the first-ever Gulf Coast Pride Day. The inaugural event in June 2017, which has grown each year at Point Cadet Plaza, is cause for celebration and to decry what she calls the “horrible s–t” going on in America right now, like the U.S. Supreme Court decision to overturn Roe v. Wade.
“I’ve got to believe we’re all decent human beings at heart, and all of this dark madness can be overcome,” Koval said.
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COVID, throat cancer derails life plans
Running a bar that never closes and other businesses that require around-the-clock attention left Koval no free time to relax and enjoy the little things in life, she said.
So in 2020, she and her wife, Tamara Koval, decided to buy an RV and made a plan to hand over the reins of Just Us to the staff and management so that they could travel the country.
Koval had already been spending a little less time at the bar.
But right before they were set to leave, the COVID-19 pandemic swept through the United States and Mississippi, where infections grew, and many on the Coast lost their lives.
Just Us closed for a time during the pandemic out of an abundance of safety and for renovations.
“I just wanted to get the bar in shape, then I was going to hit the road,” she said.
But then things went downhill.
Koval met with her staff in person in March to tell them about the cancer diagnosis and the treatment plan. She hasn’t been back to Just Us since.
“My wife and (sister) Lysa and the incredible staff have kept it together. I’m grateful to everybody and grateful for everybody’s love and support,” Koval said.
‘They say I just have to survive the cure’
Since May, Lynn, Lysa and Tammy have taken near-daily trips from Biloxi to Pascagoula for aggressive cancer treatments.
The radiation therapy Koval underwent has caused the skin around her neck and throat to turn bright red and peel. She has completed 35 sessions.
She has shared much of what happened during those treatments.
A tight mask goes over her face for every treatment, something she says would be terrifying for anyone claustrophobic.
“They put this big frame in warm water, and they put it over you and gradually fit it over your head,” she said. “It’s a full mask, and it clamps to the table.”
The first time, she kept her eyes closed and had no idea she was no longer on the ground but 5 feet in the air for the treatment.
“They undid (the mask), and I said, ‘Whoa, what are we doing?”
She received chemo treatments every three weeks that lasted three to four hours. Koval received the most potent doses – and the side effects are grueling.
“It takes me every bit of three weeks to get ready for the next one,” she said. “Every day, I come home, and I’m exhausted.”
‘I miss my health the most’
Koval can barely speak, and it often hurts to try. The radiation also makes it painful for Koval to swallow. The chemo suppresses her appetite. Her doctors warned her not to eat any of her favorite foods, as the taste would sour her memory of what she loves. For the most part, she tries to keep on weight by drinking Boost shakes.
“It’s hard … you eat the whole bowl of soup, and you think you’ve done something. And you look at the label, and it’s only 250 calories,” she said. “Nothing tastes good. My mouth is always very dry.”
Koval completed her last – and worst – chemo treatment at the end of June, but she still feels the effects of the treatments that continue to wreak havoc on her body.
“I miss my health the most, the idea that I could walk outside, and it is pleasant,” she said.
“I feel very disconnected. It’s hard for people to understand me, and we both just get frustrated. I’ve made myself continue to swallow because I don’t know where I’m going to be at next week.”
What’s next for LGBTQ+ pioneer
Koval has completed her radiation treatments and is doing all her vocal exercises. Her wife and biggest confidant is making sure she’s staying at home for safety as COVID cases rise again across the U.S.
“I miss people,” she said. “I’d love to have visitors, but I have to get past this first.”
Koval said cancer has been scary, but it did make her re-prioritize her life, which included putting down the cigarettes.
“It made me sit my ass down in life,” she said. “Both of my businesses were 24/7, so I could smoke 24/7.”
While Koval waits to see if the chemo and radiation are working, she said she’s confident she’ll be able to be out in the summer heat at next year’s Pride celebrations.
Koval’s Otolaryngology oncologist, who had not seen her since before her first treatment, took an initial look at the affected area in July and didn’t see any sign of cancer. However, Koval won’t know whether the cancer is gone or is in remission until she undergoes a pet scan. That is months down the road.
“I just pray everybody embraces a meaningful life,” she said, choking back tears. “That’s what I wish for everybody, that it doesn’t take something like this to stop, slow down and realize you have an incredible, beautiful wife beside you all these years and an incredible support system.
“I’m tired as s—t, but I’m not done. I’ll be back.”
You can follow Lynn’s cancer journey on Facebook.
A GoFundMe account has since been set to help with expenses for Koval, and now her wife, Tamara, who has a benign but inoperable tumor on her pituitary gland. Doctors discovered Tamara’s tumor after Lynn started undergoing radiation and chemotherapy treatments.
Koval initially resisted a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses, but her family and friends insisted and she has since agreed to it.
This story was originally published July 21, 2022 at 7:00 AM.
