(Photo by Caitlin Sause)
ORLANDO | Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet, executive director of Hope CommUnity Center and decades-long immigration and LGBTQ+ activist, is running for Florida Rep. Anna V. Eskmani’s District 42 seat in the Florida House of Representatives.
The district, which stretches from just north of Maitland to Belle Isle, has been represented by Eskamani since November 2022.
“I see this as an opportunity for me to continue her legacy of fighting for what’s right, of serving the residents of District 42 and making sure that all of our voices are heard in Tallahassee,” Sousa-Lazaballet says.
Sousa-Lazaballet’s lived experience and dedicated activism have led him to launch a campaign founded on solving the issues affecting everyday people, like health care access, rising grocery costs and a lack of affordable housing.
According to data from the 2023 Census Reporter, the average per capita income in District 42 is $61,000, while the median value of housing units is $424,000 — 1.3 times the Florida average. Of the 182,000 citizens that reside in the district, 10.3% live below the poverty line.
Sousa-Lazaballet says he would advocate for Florida’s Sadowski Fund to be protected and used for its intended outcomes — securing funding for affordable housing. He also seeks to ensure taxation does not harm the state’s low- or middle-income folks.
“These are some initiatives that I’m bringing to Tallahassee, not only because of a policy issue, but because they are affecting everyday people,” Sousa-Lazaballet says. “The truth of the matter is that folks in Tallahassee are focusing on the wrong things. They are focusing on demonizing LGBTQ+ people, demonizing trans people, demonizing immigrants, instead of focusing on what we actually deserve — an opportunity to thrive.”
As a member of the LGBTQ+ community and former undocumented immigrant, Sousa-Lazaballet has experienced discrimination firsthand and is dedicated to ensuring the safety of all marginalized communities.
Sousa-Lazaballet was born in Brazil in an impoverished area he describes as a “slum.” At just 12 years old, a vast rainstorm flooded his street, and because there was no sewage system, all of the sewage submerged the street. After seeing his young cousin playing in the sewage, he thought, “Oh my god, they treat us like pigs.”
By the time he came to Miami two years later as a Dreamer — an immigrant brought to the U.S. as a minor — his fire for advocating change had already caught flame.
“I know what it’s like to wake up in the morning and not know if I have to choose between groceries or my rent — I lived it,” Sousa-Lazaballet says. “I know what it means to feel discriminated against and ostracized. I know the pain our community faces every single day because we are misunderstood. But at the end of the day, I’m a human being. This is who I am. This is why I’m here.”
Sousa-Lazaballet hopes to bring his story to Tallahassee to show elected officials that all immigrants deserve dignity. If elected, he will be the first Dreamer ever to be elected to the Florida House.
At just 24, Sousa-Lazaballet helped organize the Trail of Dreams, a 1,500-mile walk from Miami to Washington, D.C., to stop the deportations of undocumented students and to celebrate the passing of the DREAM Act, a legislative proposal granting temporary conditional residency and right to work to undocumented immigrants who entered the country as minors. The walk took five months to complete, and along with three other students, Sousa-Lazaballet spoke with residents of every town they stopped in, supporters and oppositionists alike.
Within days of President Donald Trump taking office, he signed an executive order authorizing the “expedited removal” of undocumented immigrants, allowing the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to deport them without a hearing. He also revoked a ban put in place by the Biden administration that prevented ICE arrests in sensitive locations like churches, hospitals and schools.
Sousa-Lazaballet says he’ll continue to do everything in his power to fight against any policy that could harm children, sick people or those simply looking for a place to pray. He also plans to introduce proactive policies that’ll grant access to education to all people and ensure that District 42 can live in a safe community.
“I know exactly what it’s like to get in your car and not know if this is the last day you’ll get to live your American dream,” Sousa-Lazaballet says. “I know what it’s like to graduate from high school and cross that stage hopeless instead of filled with hope. My call to action to all of us, not only immigrants, to all of us is for us to lean in and listen to each other instead of being a part of these divisive politics that push us apart from one another.”
Someone who recognizes Sousa-Lazaballet’s ability to be the person to represent District 42 is the district’s current representative. Eskamani endorsed Sousa-Lazaballet as her successor, writing on social media “I am thrilled to support my good friend [Felipe Sousa-Lazaballet] as he embarks on his next chapter of leadership in running to succeed me in serving House District 42. I’ve known Felipe for over a decade as a leader at the City of Orlando, and then as the Executive Director of Hope Community Center. As an LGBTQ+ immigrant and advocate, he has been on the frontlines in fighting back against extreme policies coming out of the Governor’s Office and White House, while still leading with grit and grace to provide support to those in need. He’ll be an effective lawmaker and I encourage you to follow him on social media so you can learn more about his story.”
Sousa-Lazaballet has held various titles in different organizations across Central Florida, like the Inclusion, Diversity & Equity Sr Specialist for the Office of Multicultural Affairs with the City of Orlando and the Manager of Collaborative Partnerships, where he assisted in the city’s recovery following the Pulse nightclub shooting in 2016. Through these roles, he says he knows how to listen, understand the issues that matter to people and work together to find solutions.
After decades of advocating for a better America through relentless activism, countless initiatives and civil service, Sousa-Lazaballet says he’s ready to answer the call — as he’s done so many times before — and serve the people of District 42.
“I believe that our community deserves a representative that will do everything possible so we are represented well [and] have a seat at the table of power,” Sousa-Lazaballet says. “So I’m asking for the voters of District 42 to trust me with their dreams, with their aspirations and I want them to know that I will do everything to make sure that their voices are heard.”
Learn more about Sousa-Lazaballet’s campaign at FelipeForFlorida.com.
Check out some of the photos from our photoshoot with Sousa-Lazaballet below.
Photos by Caitlin Sause.
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