I'm a renter, which means I know how hard it is to struggle with rent that won't stop going up because my landlord is keeping up with so-called "market value."As a Medicaid recipient, I know the anxiety of worrying about whether or not I'll even have healthcare in the next six months.Speaking as a lifelong service industry worker, I know the crushing weight of living with thankless, insecure, low paying jobs.As an openly trans woman, I know the fear and alienation of being a minority in America and living with the government's boot on my throat.My name is Lilliana Young, and I'm an aggressively progressive democratic socialist who's running for Indiana State House seat 61 because I know for a fact that workers, renters and LGBTQ people are insultingly underrepresented in our state legislature.As your representative, I will fight for the things that matter most: Restoring strength and resources to our public education, improving access to housing for all Hoosiers, increased wages and expanded benefits and protections for workers, removing barriers to healthcare, holding the state government accountable to the people, and restoring human rights to immigrants, transgender people and all Hoosiers who suffer bigotry and persecution.With your support, I'll go to Indianapolis and fight to end the useless gestures toward ineffective compromise that benefit nobody. I'll fight to make Indiana a place young people are proud to be from, not dream of escaping. I'll fight to make Indiana a state that empowers and uplifts all Hoosiers, not just the ones Republicans think should be on top.With your help, I'll go to Indianapolis to fight for the soul of Indiana.

About Lilliana

Who am I?

Hi all, I'm Lilliana Young, but you can call me Lilli if you like.I'm a decade long Bloomington, IN resident, a mom to an awesome kid with a huge imagination, wife to a beautiful woman with an even more beautiful heart, and lifelong service worker. I also love to hit the gym, and time permitting, to keep up with practicing on my bass guitar.I'll also forgo the humility and say that I'm a pretty good cook.

Where did I come from?

I was born and raised in Texas, and spent most of my life moving around the Dallas/Ft. Worth region. My mom was a home business owner who taught me that ambition was a virtue worth developing, and my dad was a radio DJ by passion who taught me how to understand and love music.It wouldn't be until much later that I understood how much my parents struggled through the highs and lows of the 90's economy, which helped me all the better understand why we as parents try so hard to keep our kids unaware of the financial hardships we live through.Growing up in the Dallas region also helped me understand the value of diversity and multiculturalism in our society: especially from the LGBTQ community and our wonderful neighbors south of the U.S.

The Big Move.

Not long after our daughter was born, my then wife (a born and raised Hoosier) wanted to live closer to her family. I have to admit that I didn't like it at first, but it didn't take long for me to warm up to the area. You see, Bloomington is a lot like the Dallas region: it's home to a strong LGBTQ community, a city of proud ethnic and racial diversity, and terrific local restaurants. The only real difference is that Indiana has a lot more trees than Texas, and I'd say that's an upgrade.But really, it's the people of Bloomington that made it home. You see, that “Hoosier hospitality” you hear about is almost identical to the Southern hospitality I grew up with in Texas. In a lot of ways, it feels like I've always lived here, and I can tell you that there's no place I'd rather call home than the wonderful city of Bloomington, Indiana.

What do I do now?

After a while, I found myself as I should have always been: an out and proud trans woman. And, in time, I ended up growing into a leadership position of Bloomington's LGBTQ community by founding The Sisterhood.The Sisterhood, a non-registered organization, has served as a community hub for socializing, mutual aid and political activism for Bloomington's trans women. Through this group, I've ensured that trans women of the city have gotten medication during prescription lapses, food when money was too tight to bear, and sometimes even housing during emergencies.Myself and my soul-sister were also responsible for Bloomington Resolution 2024-14, or the Safe Haven Resolution for Gender Affirming Care. This resolution from the city stands as a promise of intent that the city of Bloomington will not participate with Indiana state law that makes gender affirming care for minors illegal, except when specifically ordered by the state to do so–and even then, only at the lowest possible priority and most bare minimum use of city resources. It doesn't override state law, but it gives our local families and their trans kids a barrier of protection that they otherwise wouldn't have.I'm deeply proud to report that in the time that's followed, trans Hoosiers and their allies have taken up the work and pressed for their own home cities to pass Safe Haven Resolutions of their own. As of August 2025, West Lafayette has adopted its own Safe Haven Resolution for Gender Affirming Care, with groups in Kokomo, Evansville and Muncie continuing their own ongoing campaigns. In the case of each city, the groups working there have all cited our work in Bloomington as their inspiration and example to follow.In addition to all that, I've been honored to serve on the Bloomington/Monroe County Human Rights Commission, where I currently serve as Secretary–and the first openly transgender officer in the commission’s history. The primary duties of BMCHRC members is to investigate cases of potential discrimination in matters of things like employment, public accommodations, housing or business services, based on things like disability, race, gender, sexual orientation or religion. If we find probable cause to declare discrimination, we can then negotiate accommodations or settlements within the range of city ordinance.In addition to that, all commissions have a line of connection to city policy, and I've been using that to continue to work on resolutions and programs that can benefit all Bloomington residents. Even though it sometimes takes longer than I'd like, I won't give up on these programs until they're done and off the ground--because you don't stop fighting for things that matter.

My Guiding Political Philosophy

The purpose of government is to organize, protect and uplift the people. Anything that does not achieve this purpose, be it a law, ordinance, resolution, court ruling, department directive, or any other such action by any branch or level of government, should be treated as a malicious attack on our right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.Politically, I believe in democratic socialism and I'm a literal card-carrying member of the Democratic Socialists of America.This means I don't believe billionaires should exist and that corporations and wealthy individuals should be taxed their fair share, and workers should be paid a living wage.I believe education, healthcare, housing and food are basic human rights that shouldn't be sold for profit.I believe that who someone loves is their own damn business, that person is entitled to their own gender and expression, and the state should never be allowed to interfere in people's personal lives or the decisions of families.And I believe that all people should have easy access to voting and that our elected officials should be held to higher standards than what we let them get away with.It's not about people getting free stuff. It's about making sure everyone's essentials are taken care of so we have an Indiana that works for everyone.

The Issues

Education:

  • Abolish private school vouchers and keep public funds for public schools

  • Increase teacher wages and strengthen teacher's unions

  • Invest in expanding school counselor staff

  • Keep colleges free from control of the Governor's office

Housing:

  • Legalize rent freezes and build public housing

  • Fine landlords for unused housing

  • Loosen zoning regulations to build low-cost housing anywhere

  • Renovate abandoned buildings to create housing complexes

Wages and Worker's Rights:

  • Drastically raise the state minimum wage and permanently tie it to inflation

  • Raise minimum wage for tip-based jobs

  • Mandate paid sick leave, paid paternity leave and paid vacation

  • Legalize unions for public employees

Healthcare:

  • Fully legalize marijuana and use tax revenue generated to fund state Medicaid

  • Expand the reach of what's covered by Medicaid

  • Flex the state's muscle and force lower prices for medications, doctor and hospital visits and other healthcare expenses

  • Establish new mandatory essential health benefits that all health insurance networks operating within Indiana must follow

Human Rights:

  • Repeal all anti-transgender legislation and enshrine gender presentation and gender identity into the state constitution

  • Enshrine marriage equality into the state constitution, for both interracial and same-sex marriages

  • Repeal the state abortion ban

  • Implement legislation that bans all state police agencies from cooperating with federal agencies on immigration and adjacent issues

Accountability of Government:

  • Fight corruption in the state government and ensure accountability from state officers

  • Ensure that there is ample and accessible parking near the state capitol during all public legislation and policy hearings

  • Longer public notice periods for legislative hearings

  • All officials who author state policy must be legally mandated to attend public Q&A periods before new legislation can be voted on or executive orders are signed

Events

Follow my social media links on the home page to keep up with me in real time.All events on the calendar are scheduled in the American Eastern Standard Time zone.

10/13/2025I'll be out at the No Kings 2 protest in downtown Bloomington, Saturday October 18th! Remember that this is a peaceful protest. We're out here to cause Good Trouble, but we must remember to deescalate in the event of counter protests or agitators.

9/23/2025My first official campaign event will be on October 7th, 6:30 pm at the Downtown Bloomington Library auditorium!A town hall on the state of trans rights in Indiana: What can we do to make it better? How do trans rights intersect with other issues? Join me and let's talk about it! Food and drink will be on hand, too, just in case you have to skip dinner to be there. Check out the event flyer below!

News and Media

You'll find my videos archived on YouTube and Instagram linked above!

10/25/2025I was interviewed by The Needle: News for and by trans people.

10/10/2025My Campaign was profiled by Indiana Daily Student, the student run newspaper of Indiana University.

8/14/2025I was interviewed by the Hoosleft Podcast where I discussed the state government's attack on transgender residents' access to accurate identification documents.

Contact and Social Media

Do you have questions about my campaign or my positions? Would you like to become a campaign volunteer? Please reach out to me through the email form below! What matters to my future constituents matters to me.Also, don't forget to follow me through the social media platforms listed above. It's the best way to keep up with my campaign in real time.

If you need to reach me by mail, please do so at:3210 E 10th Street
P.O. Box 5132
Bloomington, IN
47408