Lilly for the 'Lou!

Deciding to run for political office was not made lightly. In fact, I wasn’t really sure that I wanted to run or even be a politician. Last year, the Missouri legislature passed two anti-Trans bills that were signed into law. During the battle to defeat those bills, there was a protest on the front lawn of the Missouri State Capitol building. I stood there in the face of their hate with 800 of my Queer, Trans and Ally community members celebrating our existence and felt inspired to run. However, it wasn’t until fall of last year that I knew for sure that I had to run. Our LGBTQIA+ community lost several members to suicide. We marched our children up and down the halls, had them testify that the harm done with the bills would be deadly, and then our greatest fears came true. The anti-LGBTQIA+ legislation is deadly to our community. I am running for the House of Representatives to continue my role as Champion of Queer and Trans people. For our liberation. For our lives.

With a strong foundation grounded in Catholic theology, Lilly first became politically active around abortion in grade school. Lilly drank from the “save the babies” cup that was shared with her in the church. While in elementary school, Lilly attended her first pro-life march in Washington D.C. in 1993. Lilly attended her second pro-lfe march while in high school in the spring of 1997. Bound and determined to save the babies, Lilly was an activist for the unborn until she went to college and met people with different understandings of how the world worked. With more information, Lilly went from pro-life marcher to direct action activist when in 2019 Lilly was arrested with an organized group to stop an abortion ban here in Missouri. Lilly will work within the legislature partnered with community organizations to restore access to abortion here in Missouri, to protect access to birth control and to restore bodily autonomy. Bans off our bodies.

Lilly’s career as an educator expands throughout both public and private institutions including St. Louis County Special School District, KIPP Academy, University of Missouri- St. Louis, Saint Louis University, and Washington University in St. Louis. Her knowledge of educational systems make her uniquely qualified to work with our education partners in the city to create equitable solutions to the systemic injustice inside our current education system. The service disparities for diverse learners and funding inequities are state enabled. Families in the City of St. Louis deserve an advocate who understands the unique choices they face when deciding on an education for their children and who supports fully funded public schools.

Health care is a basic human right. From protecting Planned Parenthood to expanding Medicaid, our communities deserve a government who will enhance their health and not create barriers to access. I will work to expand the Prescription Drug Monitoring Program to help reduce overdose deaths in our communities. Gun violence is the number one killer of children in our nation. This is a health care crisis. Our communities deserve action from their government to end access to automatic weapons and create more restrictive barriers to access guns.

I grew up knowing the importance of unions. Not because I really understood why they were so important, but because I would hear my uncles talking about the person who was a scab or someone who was breaking the rules. They took the integrity of what the union stood for very seriously and instilled that belief in me. Over the course of my career, my employment in two places earned me my union cards. When I worked for grocery stores as a member of Local 655, and when I worked for Special School District where I was a member of the NEA. I will always fight for workers' right to bargain and to organize. I worked in Jefferson City when Right-to-Work became law. We cannot let that happen again here in Missouri, and I will always support legislation to protect unions and laborers and work to defeat legislation that threatens their impact.

I am proud to live in the City of St. Louis. Since moving into the city in 2002, I’ve lived in 9 different apartments or houses in 6 different neighborhoods. So, when I tell someone where I live and they recoil or gasp, I take offense. I do. We have so much to offer people in the city with our museums, parks, sports offerings, entertainment, and restaurants just to name a few that when I hear people are afraid to come here and experience our rich culture, it makes me want to do more. As your state representative, I will work with our national and local governments and communities to create systemic solutions to our suffering. This is what we are seeing. Hurt people. Hurt people. It’s time for a healing in the City of St. Louis, and I’m just the community healer to initiate the call and implement the policy.

Government works best when it is closer to the people it serves. I respect the fabric of our local communities and trust them to know best when it comes to overcoming the challenges they face.

In Missouri, we have seen many decisions influenced by special interests, circumventing the will of local communities on local issues by preempting local ordinances with state law or by diluting local opposition to matters by including state-wide votes.

When I lived in Soulard, our church communities would feed and shelter our unhoused neighbors. During the winter months, it was common for me to walk the dogs at night passed someone who was “sleeping” in the alley. I would call 211 for help. If the shelters were full there was nothing that I or anyone else could do. This human being risked becoming a human popsicle because there was no housing. Being unhoused is usually a symptom of something larger going on with the person systemically. This community is in need of an elected official who empathizes with their situation and works to create empowering paths to a thriving existence. We owe them better policies, not more politics.