On Friday, Nov. 3, a married Alabama preacher and Mayor committed suicide, two days after being outed as a transgender man with a secret life he disclosed online as a “transgender curvy girl.”
F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, the mayor of tiny Smiths Station and the pastor of nearby Phenix City’s First Baptist Church, shot himself around 5 p.m. in front of sheriffs who were pursuing him.
Copeland was a married man with three children.
His suicide occurred after police were called to do a welfare check on him and began tailing his automobile.
“He exited the vehicle, produced a handgun, and took his own life,” according to the sheriff’s office.
Copeland committed himself after his secret existence as a transgender woman under the identity Brittini Blaire Summerlin was revealed on 1819 News, a news site originally owned by the conservative think tank, the Alabama Policy Institute.
“Brittini” defined herself as a “transitioning transgender curvy girl that loves smiling, clothes, and shoes!”
On one of Brittini’s social media accounts, Copeland was shown donning various women’s clothing, including bedroom images of himself in women’s lingerie.
Copeland was also seen wearing some of his wife’s outfits in his posts, according to 1819 News.
Copeland identified as a “thick transgender woman” and encouraged other trans women to undergo hormone replacement therapy.
According to 1819 News, he also posted transgender porn as well as transgender fiction and erotica that he reportedly wrote.
On Copeland’s 62nd birthday, the report was released.
In response to the exposé, Copeland told 1819 News that his internet alter ego was a harmless “hobby” that he kept to himself.
“Only my wife is aware of it,” Copeland explained. “It’s a stress-relieving hobby for me.” I’m under a lot of stress, and I’m not transitioning medically. I’m only pretending to be a character…. I don’t go out looking for work 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 Craig Monger of the 1819. “Does the fact that I sometimes wear a dress or put on makeup have any bearing on my being mayor?” “Does that have anything to do with the fact that I’m mayor or a pastor?”
After the exposé was released on Wednesday, Nov. 1, he appeared to handle it well.
That night, he delivered his normal sermon at Phenix City’s First Baptist Church and briefly addressed the incident.
“I was the target of an internet attack,” Copeland explained. “An article was written about my capacity as mayor [and] as a pastor.” “The article does not represent who or what I am.”
He dismissed the web piece as a “attempt of humor.”
“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 said.
“I apologize for any embarrassment caused by my private, personal life that has come publicly.”
Copeland guided the city through rehabilitation in 2019 after a devastating tornado struck the nearby town of Beauregard, killing 23 people.
Copeland spoke with then-President Donald Trump, who had come to witness the storm’s devastation.
In a March interview, Copeland hinted at his own demise when he mentioned suicide as a common cause of death in his neighborhood.
“I always say, ‘We’re Mayberry 2023,'” he says of Smiths Station. “It’s as if everyone knows your name. In a tiny town, everybody dies famous. That’s exactly what it is. Friday Night Lights is on. It’s my mother’s apple pie. Our town has exceptionally minimal crime and drug misuse. Suicide is our most serious issue. It’s a pity. I believe a large part of it is related to the military. I believe some of it is due to social media and the reality of it. That is the digit one problem we have
