Earlier this week, an article was published revealing a secret pastime Mayor F.L. “Bubba” Copeland of Smith Station, Ala., engaged in. Days later, the elected official died by suicide.
Copeland was also the lead pastor at the First Baptist Church in Phenix, Ala.
According to an article published by 1819, a non-profit news site, Copeland regularly posted on Reddit as an alter ego named Brittini Blaire Summerlin. This “character” – as he described Summerlin to the outlet in an interview – was a transgender woman.
“Copeland regularly commented on other posts, referring to himself as a ‘thick transgender woman’ and encouraging other transgender individuals to go on Hormone Replacement Therapy (HRT),” said 1819. “Copeland also posted transgender pornography.”
In photos, Copeland can be seen in a wig, wearing his wife’s clothing. He told 1819 that she knew about his pastime and that he had been dressing up as a woman since he was a teen to relieve stress. After the interview, Copeland deleted accounts related to the Summerlin character and asked that they not be made public.
“It’s just a hobby that I have inside my own home that has not traveled outside of my home,” Copeland said, per the report. “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.”
Copeland also said that he was not medically transitioning and that the Summerlin character was a “fiction” and a private hobby. In addition to social media posts, including interactions with others, he authored transgender erotica. According to another 1819 article from Wednesday, he wrote one erotic fiction story “about murdering a real-life local business owner to steal her life, as well as posting pictures of other locals with explicit commentary without their consent.”
In his public life, Copeland not only served as a mayor and pastor, but owned a local hardware store and was the father of two children.
“By all accounts, Copeland had a busy and meaningful life,” said 1819. He also told the outlet he planned to serve one more term as mayor in Smiths Station.
However, Copeland shot himself Friday as police attempted to perform a welfare check, WBRL reported.
“I can confirm he took his own life,” Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones told the outlet. He said deputies were responding to a request for a welfare check when they spotted him driving his truck. They attempted to pull him over for the check.
Then, Copeland pulled over, got out and fired.
“I am so angry right now and heartbroken,” Former Phenix City School Superintendent Dr. Larry DiChiara said in a Facebook post, per WBRL. “I witnessed a good man be publicly ridiculed and crucified over the last few days…to the point that he just took his own life today.”