"Why are you running for Congress?" That's a question Sepi gets asked a lot.

The short answer, friend, is that our campaign is about a better vision for our community and our nation.

It's about standing up for working people, immigrants, LGBTQ+ Americans, women, people of color, and every other person who has felt marginalized and ignored by our political system.

It's about fighting for universal healthcare, affordable housing, economic opportunity, and a livable planet. It's about electing a representative who truly looks out for us.

If that sounds like a fight worth joining, please chip in to help fund our grassroots campaign.

Chip in!

And if you'd like to hear the long answer, read Sepi's email below!

Thanks for being part of this team, friend.

— Team Sepi

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Sepi Shyne <[email protected]>
Date: Mon, Aug 28, 2023 at 12:28 PM
Subject: What this campaign means to me
To: [email protected]

Friend,

When people ask me why I'm running for Congress, I like to share my story.

Before my family and I fled Iran, we lived in fear of the violence of the Revolutionary Guard. For a time, my father was jailed for speaking out against the regime.

Women's rights were practically non-existent; we were not even allowed to be in the streets with men or boys who were not our family. I had to cut my hair short and pretend to be a boy so I could play soccer with my friends from the neighborhood. As a queer woman, had I stayed in Iran I might not be alive today.

I've felt the effects of authoritarianism and fundamentalism firsthand, friend, and the extremism happening in our country disturbs me.

Here in our own country, civil rights are under siege. Red states across the country have passed bills targeting trans youth, gutting reproductive rights, and twisting the history and science curricula that are taught in schools.

We're seeing new levels of violence and hatred against Black, Indigenous and other people of color, LGBTQ+ Americans, and immigrants — a rising tide that echoes the worst of the discrimination and prejudice I faced when I first immigrated to the United States.

I've dedicated over two decades of my life to defending our civil rights. To fight back against the rise in hate born from extremism, I feel called to fight for us in Congress.

We deserve a future where every single person can thrive, free from discrimination, violence, and crushing inequality. I'm running for Congress to build that future. I hope you'll join me.

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With gratitude,

Mayor Sepi Shyne 
#WomanLifeFreedom