Bubba Copeland shot himself in front of police on Friday, days after he begged 1819 News not to expose his private life.

A small-town Alabama pastor and mayor killed himself Friday, days after a local conservative news website published a story that included photos of him wearing women’s clothing and makeup.

F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, who was the mayor of Smiths Station and the pastor at First Baptist Church in Phenix City, shot himself in front of police during a welfare check, the Lee County Sheriff’s Office said.

Copeland’s private life was exposed Wednesday by the conservative blog 1819 News, which was once owned by the right-wing Alabama Policy Institute and whose top editor is a former Breitbart News contributor.

  • Boddhisatva@lemmy.world
    52·
    1 year ago

    The cognitive dissonance from being a transitioning person and a Republican politician at the same time must be agonizing.

      • halcyoncmdr@lemmy.worldEnglish
        41·
        1 year ago

        I wish more people understood this. Seems like so many are simply incapable of accepting any nuance anymore. Everything is binary. This or That. With me or against me.

        • meco03211@lemmy.world
          20·
          1 year ago

          You mean I could wear clothing ostensibly for women and I wouldn’t need to immediately identify as a woman and become gay? Well fuck. Wasted my whole life on all this man stuff.

          • BassaForte@lemmy.worldEnglish
            9·
            1 year ago

            Yes. I was born a male but am medically transitioning to be more fem but I identify as non-binary.

      • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
        18·
        1 year ago

        True, but the article did indicate that they were posting as a trans woman. Maybe she’s trans, maybe he’s a cis crossdresser, either way what did they expect.

    • insomniac_lemon@kbin.social
      19·
      1 year ago

      Also religious in the deep south AND a pastor. He must’ve been seeing Green-Goblin hallucinations but with Kenneth Copeland instead of Willem Dafoe.

    • Jo Miran@lemmy.ml
      11·
      1 year ago

      If you read the original article (the one that prompted his suicide), the guy explicitly said that he didn’t feel female. He was just a crossdresser.

    • captainlezbian@lemmy.world
      2·
      1 year ago

      The problem with people is that some are idiots. Regardless of what group you’re in you’ve got some really stupid assholes. Or as their fellow republicans will see them: useful idiots