An Alabama preacher and politician killed herself Friday two days after being exposed for having a secret life she shared online as a “transgender curvy girl.”
FL “Bubba” Copeland, who was the mayor of the small town of Smiths Station, with a population of just 6,756, as well as the pastor of the First Baptist Church in nearby Phenix City, shot himself around 5 pm in front of the sheriff who followed him.
Copeland is a married father of three.
He killed himself after the police were asked to do a welfare check and started following his car.
“He got out of the vehicle, pulled out a gun, and killed himself,” the sheriff’s office said.
Copeland’s suicide followed revelations on 1819 News, a news site once owned by the conservative think tank, the Alabama Policy Institute, that portrayed Copeland’s secret life online as a transgender woman under the pseudonym Brittini Blaire Summerlin.
“Brittini” describes herself as a “curvy transgender girl, who loves smiles, dresses and shoes!”
FL “Bubba Copeland, mayor of Smiths Station and pastor at First Baptist Church of Phenix City, killed himself early Friday afternoon after being exposed for having a secret online life as a transgender woman. Facebook/FL ” Bubba” Mayor Copeland Smiths Station Alabama
One of her social media profiles shows Copeland wearing different women’s clothing, including a bedroom photo of herself in women’s underwear.
1819 News also reported that Copeland could be seen wearing some of his wife’s clothes in his post.
Alabama preacher FL “Bubba” Copeland shot himself to death Friday after being outed Wednesday for having a secret online life as a transgender woman. Facebook/FL “Bubba” Copeland Mayor Smiths Station Alabama
Copeland refers to herself as a “thick transgender woman” and encourages other transgender women to undergo hormone replacement therapy.
He also posted transgender porn as well as transgender fiction and erotica that he apparently wrote, according to 1819 News.
Copeland calls her online alter ego “Brittini Blaire Summerlin” and says she loves “smiles, dresses and shoes!”
Copeland told 1819 News, which published the report on his 62nd birthday, that his online alter ego was a harmless “hobby” that didn’t extend beyond his home.
“Only my wife knows about it,” Copeland said. “It’s a hobby I do to relieve stress. I had a lot of stress, and I didn’t transition medically. It’s just a little character that I play. … I don’t go out and look for requests or anything like that.”
“What I do in my private life has nothing to do with what I do in my holy life,” Copeland told 1819 reporter Craig Monger. “Does this affect me as the mayor, who sometimes wears clothes or sometimes wears makeup? Does that have anything to do with me being the mayor or the pastor?”
Copeland was first elected mayor of Smiths Station, Alabama, in 2016. Facebook/FL “Bubba” Copeland Mayor Smiths Station Alabama
He appeared to take his exit quietly after the revelations were published on Wednesday.
That night, he delivered his regular sermon at the First Baptist Church of Phenix City and briefly addressed the scandal.
“I’ve been the object of internet attacks,” Copeland said. “An article written about my capacity as mayor [and] capacity as a priest. That article is not who or what I am.”
He disparaged the online material, calling it an “attempt at humor.”
Copeland met with then-President Trump in 2019 after the deadly storm hit the area.
“Yes, I took a picture with my wife in the privacy of our home as an attempt to joke because I know I am neither a handsome man nor a beautiful woman,” continued Copeland. “I apologize for any embarrassment caused by my private life being made public.”
A March interview Copeland did with Columbus, Georgia’s WRBL was both poignant and eerily foreshadowing of his own fate.
“I always say, ‘We’re Mayberry 2023,'” he said of Smiths Station. “It’s really like everybody knows your name. You know, everybody dies famous in a small town. That’s what happens. It’s Friday Night Lights. It’s mama’s apple pie. Our community is very low crime, very low abuse. drugs. Our number one problem is suicide. It’s sad. I think a lot of it has to do with the military. I think part of it has to do with social media and the reality of it. That’s the number one problem we have.”
Copeland called her small town “Mayberry 2023” in a March interview. Facebook/FL “Bubba” Copeland Mayor Smiths Station Alabama
In 2019, Copeland led the city through recovery after a horrific March tornado with winds of up to 170 mph ripped through the nearby town of Beauregard and killed 23 people.
Copeland met with then-President Donald Trump, who came to see the devastating storm’s landfall.
If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts or are experiencing a mental health crisis and live in New York City, you can call 1-888-NYC-WELL for free, confidential crisis counseling. If you live outside the five boroughs, you can call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline 24/7 at 988 or go to SuicidePreventionLifeline.org.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
