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.

    • @[email protected]English
      38•8 months 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.

      • @[email protected]
        20•8 months 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.

        • BassaForteEnglish
          8•8 months ago

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

    • @[email protected]
      17•8 months 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.

    • Beaupedia
      1•8 months ago

      The person in question self described as transgender. It wasn’t a guess.