The Needle endorses Lilliana Young for Indiana House

The past decade has shown that trans rights are only secure when trans people ourselves show up to defend them.  When we are absent, our rights are stripped.  When we are present, we have a fighting chance.

If we don’t show up ourselves, our rights are at the mercy of people to whom we are just another special interest group.  This is why we can’t afford to ignore the halls of power.  If you aren’t at the table, you’re on the menu.

This is why we cannot allow the protection and expansion of our rights to be the sole domain of cis politicians.  We need trans officials on the frontlines of preserving trans dignity.

Lilliana Young of Indiana is just such a fighter.

As a community organizer, she connected the various trans women in the Indianapolis and Bloomington areas together, creating a refuge from the rampant transphobia that affects the area.  The Needle has spoken with people who used her group meetups as a lifeline, and we can attest to how important it has been.

As an activist, she has repeatedly fought back against the anti-trans laws in her state.  For years, she has been central to the fight against anti-trans bigotry and discrimination in the area.    In public hearing after public hearing, she has been the fiery voice of trans dignity that the proceedings often lacked.  

In that work she has done what few others have been able to do, and she did so by being steadfast in her defense of trans people. An example is when she gave public comment during the committee hearing for Indiana’s SB 182. In Lilliana’s words, “The same Republicans who ignored the pleading mother, the crying father, the lifelong advocates and the intersex woman, absolutely paid attention to me.  I got under their skin. I made the devil blink.”

If elected, she will take this defence of our people’s dignity to the state legislature.  

As it stands, she is running in the primary against a centrist democrat who was first elected in 2002.  Her opponent, Matt Pierce has sat on his hands because that is what is expected of democrats when they are in the minority, as they are in Indiana.  Lilliana Young will not sit on her hands.  She will defend us.

The district she is running to represent is in the solidly blue college town of Bloomington, home to the state’s primary public university.  If she wins in the primary, she will sail to victory in the general election, as the Republican Party often does not bother to run a candidate there.  There is no risk of her left wing positions being too extreme for the general election, because the only election that matters there is the Democratic Party primary.  Even if there was such a risk, it’s better to stand for something than to cave for anything. 

For these reasons and more, The Needle is proud to give Lilliana Young our endorsement.  

She is up for election on May 5 in Indiana House District 61.  If you want to get involved, you can go to her campaign website HERE. Her website has details of how to donate, volunteer, or otherwise get involved in her campaign.