Elizabeth ‘Lilly’ Fuchs is a lifelong St. Louisan with more than 20 years of dedicated community service. The roots of her family tree are woven deeply under the city’s cobblestone streets. On her father’s side, her ancestors were farmers and stonemasons. Two German brothers who took a commission with the Catholic Church of France to come to America and build the Old Cathedral. This rock of faith in downtown St. Louis still sits on the bank of the Mississippi River. On her mother’s side, her ancestors were public servants and laborers who built and served our city with pride. Ever heard the story about the public official who died at their desk in city hall? Well, that was Lilly’s great-grandfather, Tom Jennings Sr., who, when he died, was the longest serving city official having the pleasure of serving eight mayors. Lilly is ready to follow the path her family paved before her to serve the people of the city of St. Louis.
While recognizing her family's contributions to our community, Lilly understands the role that her family had as colonizers. After completing the work for the Catholic Church, Lilly’s ancestors were given land in what is now south St. Louis County. Land that was stolen from the indigenous people by the United States Government and sold to the church. The church then used it as currency for building their institutions. Lilly is a white, cisgender, queer, currently- able bodied woman who recognizes her privilege and her role in dismantling white settler colonialism. A role that when needed, she leverages to advance the most marginalized among us.
Growing up in south St. Louis county, Lilly’s lens for understanding life was from the perspective of the two very Catholic branches of her family tree. Lilly went to private Catholic schools and lived in a community where everyone was mostly white, middle-class and Catholic. Lilly’s parents were working class. Her dad managed grocery stores and her mom was an early childhood educator. Even with their modest income, her parents believed that for their family an education with a religious curriculum was a priority. Lilly attended grade school at St Margaret Mary Alacoque and went to Notre Dame High School- go Rebels! While Lilly is no longer a member of the Catholic Church, she is grateful for the frame of reference and foundation provided to her by the nuns at Notre Dame who introduced her to social justice, singing for connection, and the call of the spirit.
It was after high school that Lilly really started to understand her queer identity. While a traditional path of high school to college, college to marriage, marriage to kids was the expected path for a good Catholic girl, Lilly wasn’t like the other girls. Lilly was different and knew that she wasn’t destined for the path as prescribed. In search of her community, she found herself in the restaurant world as a waitstaff manager at Blueberry Hill. Lilly loved her time as a Blueberry and credits that time during her life for teaching her the true meaning of teamwork. Eventually in the summer of 2000, Lilly found her way to Novak’s Bar and Grill on a blind date. As a young 21-year old, Lilly stepped into that community bar, saw all the pictures on the walls, and knew desperately that she wanted to be in those pictures. Lilly found her people.
Coming out was not easy for Lilly. Her family lost her beautiful and talented Uncle Jeffrey to AIDS in the fall of 1990. He was gay, contracted HIV in the late 1980s and took his life before the virus did. This tragedy in her VERY Catholic family was met with silence and shame. Unfortunately for Lilly, this was all she knew about being gay. When she stepped into that gay bar for the first time, it was like finally coming home. Finding her community gave her purpose. Lilly continued to serve her community after graduating with her Masters in Social Work from the University of Missouri St. Louis in her first job with St. Louis Effort for AIDS, now Vivant, as a case manager. In this role, Lilly was fortunate to glean insight into the very real health disparities for our Transgender community. It was then that she truly started to understand her role in solidarity with Trans people.
Taking her role of advocate to the next level, Lilly started working with PROMO as the Manager of Public Policy and Lobbyist in the spring of 2016. In the post-marriage equality world of defending queer liberation, this proved to be a pivotal moment. Lilly learned more about her mission in our movement spaces- community care container and social policy warrior. As a social worker, Lilly provided several interventions in those roles serving as invaluable mental health support while also delivering public testimony in opposition to the onslaught of anti-LGBTQ bills.
From PROMO, to the Metro Trans Umbrella Group (MTUG) Lilly continued to carve out her role in our community. While working for MTUG, Lilly held two sacred roles. She was both the policy consultant- drafting organizational policy, and she was also the community healer- managing the support group facilitators who were a vital component of the mission of MTUG. One of Lilly’s favorite roles while supporting these community organizations was facilitating the learning of social work students in their practicum experiences. So when approached to interview for a role at the Brown School of Social Work at Washington University in St. Louis, Lilly delighted in the honor and accepted the invitation.
In January of 2020, Lilly started working with social work students full time. Her role in the capital did not change. She is still showing up to be an advocate for liberation, but now she is teaching students how to show up as social workers in a policy space- to provide community care for those testifying and those impacted while under the dome; write and deliver compelling testimony to shift the discussion to advance equity; to strategize policy change through policy and stakeholder analysis; and to run for political office.
Lilly loves her family. She is the aunt to six young humans, and takes her role of nurturing their dreams into reality very seriously. When she isn't spending time with her family, Lilly can be found hopping around the south-side with any number of her pals. She loves music and is a very gifted karaoke singer. Lez duet, want to?
Elizabeth ‘Lilly’ Fuchs has a long history in political advocacy and activism in St. Louis and our state legislature. She is a proven champion of equality and was awarded this honor by the Advocate Magazine in 2018. When elected, Lilly will continue to be a champion for issues the matter to the voters and residents of House District 80.
Vote Lilly for the ‘Lou! HD 80! August 6, 2024