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 unapologetic progressive 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 amazing 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.

The Issues

Public Education:

  • Take public funds out of for-profit private and charter schools

  • Increase teacher wages and strengthen teacher's unions

  • Remove minimum student requirements from all public school districts

  • 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 a portion of 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 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

News

Be sure to follow me on Bluesky and YouTube as well! Links on the Home page.

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 Me

If you'd like to contact me or request an appearance or interview, please fill out the form below. I'm looking forward to hearing from you!

If, for any reason, you wish to contact me by mail, you can do so at:3210 E 10th Street
P.O. Box 5132
Bloomington, IN
47408