A small-town Alabama mayor who pastored a Southern Baptist church committed suicide after his secret life as a “transgender curvy woman” was revealed by a conservative Alabama news organization.
F.L. “Bubba” Copeland led a busy public life as mayor of Smiths Station, pastor of Phenix City First Baptist Church, and a married father of three. But out of the spotlight, Copeland operated social media accounts as a self-described “curvy transgender woman” under the pseudonym Brittini Blaire Summerlin.
Alabama-based news outlet 1819 News began pulling the curtain back on Copeland’s secret life with a series of stories last week. The outlet revealed that Copeland not only shared graphic sexual material which included himself in drag but authored erotic slasher fiction in which the narrator murders and steals the life of a local woman, whose name and real local business Copeland names.
Copeland ended his life Friday afternoon in front of local law enforcement who had been summoned to perform a welfare check.
Copeland’s private Instagram profile, which he deleted after an interview 1819 News, featured racy photos, including of him wearing women’s underwear. Some of the clothing worn by Copeland appeared to belong to his wife, from photos posted to her own social media accounts.
Copeland, through his private Instagram account “brittiniblairesummerlin”, regularly interacted with other users, commenting on posts from other users to refer to himself as a “thick transgender woman” and encourage other transgender individuals to go on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT).
The small-town mayor also posted transgender pornography, often giving vivid captions describing being a “whore” and getting “f****d.”
In one post, Copeland added the caption, “Do what you have to do to get f****d,” and “Once you’ve been mounted properly there is no going back.”
Copeland also shared a meme featuring a local area brother and sister with the caption, “Take the shots, get implants, become the whore.” The meme suggested the two siblings were the same individual that had transitioned from male to female.
1819 News removed the picture after the father of the two children, one of which is a minor, contacted them.
Copeland also shared transgender fiction and erotica he had written himself.
The erotica, which Copeland claims is “purely fiction,” includes a story about murdering a real-life local business owner to steal her life and identity.
That story includes a graphic description of the narrator successfully seducing the women’s husband.
In an interview with 1819 News, Copeland admitted to operating the accounts and appearing in photos, saying dressing as a woman was a “hobby” he had practiced since his youth to relieve anxiety.
“Just my wife knows about it,” he told 1819 News. “It’s a hobby I do to relieve stress. I have a lot of stress, and I’m not medically transitioning. It’s just a bit of a character I’m playing… I don’t go out and seek solicitation or anything like that.”
He continued, “It’s something that I don’t intermingle with the other. It’s private. I don’t do it in the public or anything like that.”
Copeland denied that his “hobby” affected his ability to pastor his church or serve his community as mayor.
“It’s just a hobby that I have inside my own home that has not traveled outside of my home,” he said. “I have not done anything outside of my own home besides post or publish anything on the internet, and that does not affect anything with inside my jurisdiction.”
He continued, “What I do in private life has nothing to do with what I do in my holy life,” Copeland continued. “Does this have any effect on me being mayor, that I sometimes put on a dress or sometimes put on makeup? Does that have anything to do whatsoever with me being mayor or being a pastor?”
Copeland took to the pulpit Wednesday, the day the first story was published, insisting to his congregation he had “nothing to be ashamed of.”
“I have been an object of an internet attack,” he told his church. “An article that was written about my capacity as the mayor [and] capacity as a pastor. The article is not who or what I am.”
Copeland called his internet content an “attempt of humor” before adopting a more conciliatory tone.
“Yes, I have taken pictures with my wife in the privacy of our home in an attempt of humor because I know I’m not a handsome man nor a beautiful woman either,” he continued. “I apologize for any embarrassment caused by my private, personal life that has come publicly.”
“This will not cause my life to change. This will not waver my devotion to my family, to serving my city, [and] to serving my church. I’m thankful for the grace of God [and] the willingness to forgive. I have nothing to be ashamed of. A lot of the things that were said were taken out of context. And in conclusion, I love my family. They’re number one. And again, I’m sorry for what my actions have caused.”
Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
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