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.
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I fully agree with your comment. That said:
Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones said that deputies who tried to pull Copeland over for a welfare check witnessed Copeland step out of his car and shoot himself.
Why are we taking the word of the cops for what happened? We know the right-wingers don’t distinguish between cross-dressers and pedophiles. We know that some of them find great satisfaction in abusing, torturing and even killing those that they consider “other”. And we know that cops cover for other cops.
Yes, it’s entirely possible and plausible that this guy killed himself, but why are we just blindly accepting the cops’ version of events here?
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It’s really not.
I more or less trust the cops in this case. There’s really no reason to say he killed himself if they killed him, and in doing so create a whole bunch of evidence to cover up. They could just as easily say he was armed and they were scared so they shot him. That’s enough for them to get away with murder, so why would they put themselves in a position that could be proven as a lie later?
Never take a cops words at face value, but also recognize they can freely murder if they want to, so if they aren’t taking credit for a kill, especially someone armed, they probably didn’t do it.
We’re taking the cops word because this was the damned mayor, not some random person (or minority) they pulled over, fucked up and decided they could hide it.
Counterpoint: it’s the mayor of a small town in Alabama. The same Alabama that locked the new mayor out of City Hall because the mayor was Black, and they’d simply been passing the mayorship down through generations without actually bothering to hold elections or anything. Alabama is all sorts of fucked up, and their state motto is “Thank God for Mississippi”.
Alabama isn’t a monolith, though.
Being mayor of a small town doesn’t buy you much with the police. The mayor of a small town near where I grew up got swatted by police after someone sent weed to his address that the police were following. The mayor had nothing to do with the weed they just happened to pick his house. The cops didn’t even check who lived at the address and shot the family’s two golden retrievers.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berwyn_Heights,_Maryland_mayor's_residence_drug_raid
This is ridiculous. You’re assuming
1 That because they are officers, they are republican.
They may be, but that’s one assumption.
2 That they are the kind of republican who equates cross dressing with pedophilia.
Happens, but it is another assumption.
3 They would act on that belief with murder. Of an elected official, on duty, on a welfare check.
Sure … could happen. But you see why this is becoming less rational as we go right.
Yes, it’s entirely possible that they killed someone because they cross dressed, but we just blindly accept this random comments version of events here?
Honestly? Yes, I’m assuming there’s a decent chance that they’re bigots. And that’s mostly because they’re (1) small-town (2) cops in (3) Alabama. I’m not saying that this is what did happen, but I am saying that we just shouldn’t take their word for what happened either.
Also? In absolutely no part of my comment did I ever use the word “Republican”.
I hear what you’re saying, but it’s terrible deductive reasoning. And you show it when you say it’s not what you say DID happen. And? semantics.
blindly accept this random comments version of events here?
Pretty sure that’s exactly the opposite of that comments intent. They’re providing another unfortunately likely possibility to encourage us to question the version of events that we’re being told by the cops.
We shouldn’t just immediately believe either scenario is 100% true. But maybe we can ask for body cam footage to confirm the cops version of events
Conservatism Kills.
Literally. Abortion bans increase maternal deaths, and a report by the ADL found that right-wing extremists are responsible for 75% of politically motivated deaths, compared to only 4% by left-wingers.
A review of the research on the ideological basis of political violence explains why conservatism is more deadly:
Whereas most terrorist attacks result in zero fatalities, casualties associated with attacks vary across instances. It is thus possible to examine whether followers of certain ideologies are more likely to use fatal violence, relative to, for instance, property or infrastructure crimes that do not cause deaths. Ideologies that more capably address individuals’ needs should be more ‘successful’ at causing fatalities. Past research specifically suggests two candidate ideologies that are likely to be effective: ideologies on the political right (versus left) and religious (versus secular) ideologies. Analyses of terrorist attacks committed between 1998 and 2005 revealed that organizations subscribing to religious ideologies were the most likely to engage in lethal attacks and were responsible for a greater number of deaths. ‘Leftist’ groups were significantly less likely to kill than religious groups, and anarchist groups were the least likely to engage in lethal attacks. Eco-terrorists were responsible for zero lethal attacks during this period, so they were excluded from analyses. Religious ideology has also been found to increase the lethality of suicide attacks, whereas attacks perpetrated in US regions known for propagating a ‘culture of honor’ were more deadly than attacks perpetrated in other regions.
Why might this be the case? Conservatives are more likely to see the world in absolutist, dogmatic, and closure affording ways than are liberals. Conservatives are also more likely than liberals to moralize values that effectively promote violence. Conservatives value loyalty, authority, and sanctity. This is important, as research has further found that the sacralization of loyalty was positively related (whereas the sacralization of other values was either unrelated or negatively related) to the justification of violence. This suggests that conservative ideologies should have an easier time moralizing political violence than liberal ideologies.
Religious ideologies are similarly suited to addressing the previously outlined needs. Religious ideologies can provide greater certainty than secular ideologies because they rest on the authority of God. In addition, through the promise of a blessed afterlife to those who act as prescribed by the ideology, religion offers a potent avenue to significance that is unavailable to secular ideologies. Religion can more naturally moralize political values, as interpretations of Holy Scripture can convincingly link violent means to religious values and provide convincing rationale for acting on behalf of those injunctions. Furthermore, because religious ideologies cannot be directly verified, people are more reliant on social validation to demonstrate the correctness of their beliefs. Consequently, religious individuals tend to be collectivistic and are more prone to derogate and act with hostility toward adherents of other ideologies. Finally, religious fundamentalism—the form that religious ideology is likely to take among extremists—is positively related to the need for cognitive closure that foments group-centrism, and this relationship partially explains the derogation of outgroup members.
This is really sad. An alternative life for this guy is dressing the way he wants as appropriate to his activities that day and the only remarks are to compliment his outfit here and there. What a sad world those people have made for themselves.
lol, he wasn’t a victim, dude was one of the minor demons, in a position of elected public office, as a republican, he held a pitchfork
This, in a nutshell, why people become conservative. Because shame and a toxic community keep them from being who they really want to be. Because they need to belong to something so badly that they’ll even join a gang of bigots rather than admit they’re actually the target of that bigotry.
“The party of personal freedoms”
Conservative blog 1819 must be very proud of themselves.
Edit: I just emailed them asking which Republican they plan on killing next. Will let you all know if I get a reply.
We need a RemindMe bot for things like what you’re doing.
Poor guy. This is sad. I hate hearing stories like this
I wouldn’t feel as bad if he was a raging bigot about lgbtq issues, but apparently he didn’t have much to say about that which is pretty impressive for a BAPTIST PREACHER IN ALABAMA.
Yeah, he obviously dealt with a lot of cognitive dissonance between his experience and the culture he was raised in. He wasn’t some hypocrite who was preaching ‘family values’ or some other nonsense, just a tortured soul driven over the edge.
The world just lost another potential ally. He could have helped shape the discourse in his town for the better, but instead he’s being buried. This is a sad day.
poor poor racist republican, joined the republican party to hold down women, and minorities, didn’t wanna get into the whole the leopards that eat faces party that i joined might eat my face should they find out i like wearing women’s clothing, here, let me just defund another domestic violence shelter, nope, i’ll be just fine
Actually, I looked more into his history and you know what I found? They (using neutral pronouns because there’s confusion about whether or not they were actually trans or just cross-dressing) seemed to actually be a pretty cool person. They were very supportive of their trans sisters online and generally encouraging to them.
To be honest, that really isn’t all that surprising. The smaller the town, the less likely it is for local party politics mirror state or federal politics. Normally this means small town politics tend to swing hard-right and either radical libertarian or authoritarian, but it sounds like in this case they probably wanted to be more supportive and inclusive and was possibly being held back by locals. The reality of it is that they were probably Republican because it was the only way to get elected, not because they agreed with the Republican party. Let’s be honest here as well, does it really make sense that someone would be supportive of trans people and then turn around and demonize them?
Sometimes the only way you can make a difference is to walk through the leopards’ cage and hope you don’t get eaten before you reach the other side.
Finally, I’m not even fully convinced that they did kill themselves. Personally, I’ll be waiting to see if any bodycam footage shows up. Small town cops only side with the mayor when they want something done, or when the mayor is actively supporting them, otherwise the mayor is just as much an enemy to them as anyone else.
Edit: it’s also possible that they were a Republican before discovering their love for cross-dressing or desire to be trans, and they were stuck between a rock and a hard place. Because they were in a conservative area, it’s entirely possible they were afraid for their life and or were so heavily indoctrinated by Republicans that they believed that they were the problem, not the party (though the latter doesn’t explain why they were supportive of trans folk online); and considering they supposedly committed suicide in front of cops with no witnesses, it’s entirely possible they were killed by cops and therefore justified in their fear. It’s easy to forget or underestimate just how dangerous it is to be trans in America, especially if you’re from a more liberal city.
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I already said it once and I’ll say it again. Sometimes the only way to make the world a better place is to walk through the leopards cage and hope they don’t eat you before you come out the other side. The alternative is to kill all the leopards.
You wanna be the one who picks up a gun and starts killing the leopards? No? Then shut the fuck up while the adults try solutions that don’t involve bloodshed. If you start killing the leopards then a hell of a lot of people will die due to retaliation and most of them will be innocent. Get off the internet and go touch grass.
Now, I don’t know what this guy’s politics were like except that they were regularly supportive of their trans sisters online, where they had the freedom to be who they wanted to be because they weren’t being supressed by local conservatives. That tells me that this guy wasn’t completely rotten like many Republicans are.
But hey, go off I guess. Paint with a broad brush and ignore the bumps that don’t conform to your expectations, 'cause every time humans have done that it’s always lead to the betterment of humanity, right?
This person didn’t “walk through the leopards cage” lmfao are u high?
Let’s get a few things straight.
This was not a repressed hero. This person was not brave.
This person was a coward. This person was self hating. This person joined a political party voluntarily …they didn’t have to be in politics. The party they joined is one who’s official positions demonize LGBTQ peoples.The leopards in this case killed themselves.
Being supportive of trans people online while shitting on them irl is the height of not only hypocrisy but classic conservative rules for thee but not for me.
Delete your ignorant ass post.
I thought it was established that they didn’t talk shit about people in public. Did I miss something?
No. You’re seeing people who only see the world in black-and-white or us-vs-them. It’s extremely unsettling for people, like myself, who rely on people like that for support. It’s why it is that if you hang out in LGBT spaces - especially for people who are trans, enby and/or a-spec (asexual, aromantic and/or agender) - you’ll see memes about false allies; people who claim to be allies, but only because your political views align with their own. Because if your own views or philosophies don’t align with theirs then they’ll drop you like a rock.
Again, I haven’t looked deeply into the mayor’s prior political views, I’ve mainly looked through articles covering their death, so it’s totally possible that they themselves held bigoted views. Nor have I been able to figure out if they held office before they started expressing themselves online (it looks like they deleted their accounts before they died), because it’s totally possible they held office before discovering themselves and didn’t know how to get out of their position (inb4 “just move lul” or “just swap political parties, lul ecks dee”; if the former were that easy I wouldn’t still be stuck in Texas, and the latter is a great way to get yourself killed in our current political climate). However, to effectively say they deserved it for being trans and republican while stopping just short of saying such, really reeks of disgusting false-ally bullshit.
Edit: actually, after looking through some of their posts, at best they’re just shit-stirrers, at worst they’re just hateful, angry, and taking it out on everyone else.
How is that relevant. They were actively participating in a political party that is trying to oppress trans people. Nothing else here is relevant.
This is my point. Being LGBTQ doesn’t give this guy a pass. Others seem to think it does. There are tons of gay and trans Republicans.
They are just as shitty as the straight ones.This is the key takeaway from this whole thing. This guy would rather kill himself than be seen as part of the LGBT community. A community which their own experiences told them would be welcoming and understanding and would have been.
They could have been welcomed with open arms and they could have rejected republicanism and conservatism. Instead at the very end they made their choice to literally end their life instead of being known as part of the LGBT community.
This was an easy choice for this guy. There was no grey area. I’m not sure why other people are pretending there was. No one forced him. Hell in a month no one would have given a shit.
When Republicans start coming for the trans kids like they did with the gay kids…how are you going to tell the difference between the ones holding bats cuz of peer pressure or cuz they want to?
Now I remember why I tagged you, turn 15 yet?
Your post prompted me to look through the histories of some of the people responding, and dear lord… what a bunch of hateful, angry people. Like, I’m not perfect, I’ve said things I regret or don’t fully agree with, either because I got caught up in the moment or because my view on something shifted; but I generally try to correct myself or delete my comment(s) when that happens.
These people though? I’m pretty sure they’re just stirring the pot.
You’ve clearly been reading too much Wikipedia. There’s a great deal of Republicans who aren’t bigots or homophobic who just want a smaller government and for the constitution to be interpreted as a living document meaning interpreting it literally as it’s written and not having our basic rights get taken away by hypocritical liberals. If you want socialism go learn about the tens of millions killed under Stalin and Maos regimes or move to North Korea.
I love how you act like u give a shit about nuance then come right out and say
Socialism=Stalin
As if there’s only one kind.
Wow you’re fucking dumb.
I also mentioned mao, and your buddy Kim jong whatever
If you join fascist organisation, you’re a fucking asshole and there’s absolutely no excuse. Defending these people just makes you an asshole too.
Only a Sith deals in absolutes.
That’s a pretty absolute statement
He probably couldn’t run as a Dem, so he ran as GOP because that’s all that would be elected locally. Doesn’t nesc mean he was a Magat.
The cognitive dissonance from being a transitioning person and a Republican politician at the same time must be agonizing.
Crossdressing isn’t transexuality by itself.
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.
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.
Yes. I was born a male but am medically transitioning to be more fem but I identify as non-binary.
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.
The person in question self described as transgender. It wasn’t a guess.
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.
Stop it. That’s terrifying.
The only good thing about Kenneth Copeland is the he looks like he’s got two feet and three hands in the grave already.
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.
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
Phew. I was hoping he was a GOP member. Glad this story had a happy ending.
Fuck I just feel sorry for them
IT DOESN’T HAVE TO BE LIKE THIS! If people won’t listen to Jesus, maybe they can listen to his modern day apostle Fred Rogers when he said “I like you just the way you are.”
maybe they can listen to his modern day apostle Fred Rogers when he said “I like you just the way you are.”
Right. That would be Presbyterian minister, children’s show host, gave-out-full-size-candy-bars-at-Halloween Fred Rogers, yes? The one that Fox went out of their way to describe as “an evil, evil man” who was [in effect] responsible for corrupting today’s youth? Well, sadly, I think I can explain why they don’t listen to Mr. Rogers …
They do listen to Jesus. Not the Middle-Eastern Jewish Socialist Jesus. They listen to white racist Conservative American Jesus, they listen to Supply Side Jesus, they listen to the Jesus who can fit a rich man through the eye of a needle and who’s death gives them the right to sin.
Trickle-down Jesus, with an exceptionally wide stance.
As a reminder, this is what they had to say about Mr. Rogers.
It takes a special kind of hate to call Mr. Rogers “evil.”
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No, but their Instagram is open to comments and is receiving them.
I checked the bird site so you don’t have to: yes the inciting article is being shared by people on both sides. The comments are almost solely defending his suicide and the hatred that sparked it.
“he shot himself in front of us” -trustworthy police
I’m absolutely horrified by so many folks in the comment section blinded by partisan hate.
Welp, conservatives fucking suck.
It’s even worse than that. No one knows the story at all but they all have a fully developed opinion from reading the headline.
Maybe some of the locals whose children he posted to pornographic websites won’t miss him.
Maybe the local businesswoman he obsessed over while he wrote stories about killing her, seducing her husband, and stealing her life won’t miss him.
It is scary how easy it is to get people to rally over things they know nothing about. I’m not holier than thou either. I’ve caught myself reacting before thinking.
Edit: I want to make it clear that I wish this person had got help. I definitely feel empathy for this person, I just don’t think that the cross dressing is the primary issue here. This person was public figure posting deranged and terrible things online using real people from his town as objects of fantasy.
None of that is in the article.
You’re right, it’s in the article referenced, with screenshots and evidence.
It is not.
Here you go, THE ARTICLE REFERENCED AS THE REASON KILLED HIMSELF.
You could have found this all on your own.
That’s the hard right shitrag that drove him to suicide.
That’s the hard right shitrag that drove him to suicide. They are not credible.
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Live in a progressive city any you can be Bubba the trans mayor on the ballot.
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Republicans love stuff like this. If you’re different they think you should die.
Repression is the cause of much suffering.
One of the sad things is how big he’s smiling in the picture. Looks like a jolly guy.
But doctor, I am Pagliacci…
I actually got that reference, and I appreciate it.
