Felipa de Souza

Felipa de Souza (1556, Portugal – 1600, Brazil) was a woman who had romantic relationships with other women during the Brazilian colonial era.

Felipa was born in Tavira, Portugal, but eventually came to live in Brazil, in the city of Salvador in the state of Bahia. She was married, then widowed, then remarried; her second husband was a day labourer, and she was a seamstress. Felipa was attracted to women, passionately, and had many relationships with women, including Paula de Siqueira. Both Felipa and Paula wrote literature, and Felipa wrote her many letters of love, in addition to sharing kisses and caresses, from 1588 to 1589. In 1589, the pair physically consummated their relationship.

In 1591, when Felipa was around age 35, officials of the Catholic Portuguese Inquisition came to Brazil. Her letters to Paula de Siqueira were taken into evidence, and she was accused of so-called 'female sodomy', with not only Paula, but at least six other women. Felipa told the Inquisition that she had "great love and carnal affection" for women. She was sentenced to being publicly whipped, and exiled from Bahia.

The life of Felipa de Souza was brought to modern attention by the research of Dr. Luiz Mott, a queer Brazilian historian and anthropologist. Felipa's name was adopted by the OutRight Action International (formerly known as International Gay and Lesbian Human Rights Commission ) to name its annual human rights prize.