Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, a Democrat from Brazil, was elected to Florida’s state legislature, becoming the first Brazilian and first openly gay immigrant to serve in the chamber. (Foto: Instagram)
Democrat Felipe Sousa Lazaballet, 40, has become the first Brazilian elected to Florida’s state legislature. He is from Duque de Caxias, in the Brazilian state of Rio de Janeiro.
Lazaballet immigrated to the United States as a teenager and spent years living in the country without legal status, according to the report.
His election also makes him the first openly gay immigrant to win a seat in Florida’s legislature.
In a social media post, Lazaballet called his story the American Dream. He said he arrived without documents and with nothing in his name, and described representing his friends and neighbors as an elected leader as an extraordinary privilege.
