Alabama Baptist pastor caught in secret “trans” life
The story of Bubba Copeland
On November 1st, the shocking news ripped through the tiny town of Smiths Station, Alabama. The town’s Republican mayor—and pastor of First Baptist Church—had an online profile as a woman!
The details were all over 1819 News, a right-wing political news site. By day he was F.L. “Bubba” Copeland, father of three, owner of a grocery store and gas station, Republican mayor, Baptist pastor, and all-around great guy.
On social media sites, he was ‘Brittini Blaire Summerlin’, the self-described “transgender curvy girl.”
He was confronted with the evidence—and seemed unrepentant.
“It’s a hobby I do to relieve stress,” he told 1819 News. “I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
But that view wasn’t always held. The Reddit and Instagram accounts of “Brittini Blaire” were searched, and photos of this upstanding family man in a wig, makeup and women’s clothes were there for all to see.
He’d posted curious stories and erotica.
In one, there was a story of a man killing a woman and taking her place in a small town. The author of the exposé, Craig Monger, even downloaded the stories and put them up on Scribd, in case Copeland tried to delete them — which he did. The upload has 500k views.
There were sexy photos, and “memes”—presented with black blobs to conceal the improprieties. They had Brittini in Reddit forums like ‘Bitch Sissies’ joking, like about sex scenes with men so aggressive that there’d be “No More Boy!” left in her.
Bubba had seemed like a good mayor.
He’d run in the last election without opposition. He’d been much praised for guiding the city through a tornado strike a few years back.
Most every story about Brittini could include the photo of Bubba with President Trump in the aftermath of the tornado.
Bubba seemed like a good pastor too.
He wasn’t the kind of Baptist who’d targeted sexual minorities. The Friendly Atheist blog immediately questioned why ‘Brittini’ was being outed, pointing out that there seemed not to be any anti-LGBT content from Copeland’s church.
Indeed, the church seems to have been quietly ‘affirming’.
Bubba sought to draw lines between ‘Brittini’ and his public work.
In his interview with Craig Monger, that was the line he took.
“What I do in private life has nothing to do with what I do in my holy life,” he said. “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?”
In Craig Monger’s view, it did.
Bubba’s antagonist was a young man who was a conservative Christian, the son of missionaries. He did not see the ‘Brittini’ social media profiles as private, and he played up every angle to sensationalize them.
The story quickly became viral. For three days, 1819 News put up update after update — as it was then all over the local T.V. news.
Christian media, then national media, began to tune in.
Bubba thought he could survive the mess.
At Wednesday night’s church service, Pastor Copeland made a statement from the pulpit:
“Yes, I have taken pictures of 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. 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 serving my church.”
He seemed to think he’d be “forgiven.”
He continued: “I’m thankful for the grace of God and willingness to forgive.” But did he feel he needed forgiveness? He repeated: “I have nothing to be ashamed of.”
His Baptist denomination had some different ideas about that. They released a statement, indicating there’d be an investigation, adding:
“We are praying for the leaders of the church family as they seek to determine the truth concerning these accusations. As the people of God, we pray for the pastor and his family as well.”
Bubba had become a man without a “side.”
The most popular man in town was suddenly a pariah. Christians and Republicans wouldn’t defend him because he was a man in women’s clothes.
Liberals and Democrats wouldn’t defend him because he was a Baptist pastor in the South. As James Finn notes:
“Bubba took abuse from two barrels at once, from the left and the right — and it was unrelenting and withering.”
Could he take refuge in God? He could try.
On Wednesday afternoon, the sheriff’s department received some alarming information.
Police were dispatched to locate Copeland. He was found driving in his car.
At their approach, he pulled over, took out a gun and killed himself.
There were many ideas on who was to blame.
To some it was Bubba himself. A woman posts to X: “His secret was exposed, he was clearly appropriately ashamed & embarrassed.”
Or was the reporter at fault? A psychologist posts on X: “Basically, it’s a story of one guy bullying another to the point where he killed himself…”
An X comment: “Craig Monger? Call him HATE MONGER.”
Another X comment offered some historical perspective:
“30 years ago a Republican mayor named Bubba moonlighting as a drag queen would be filed away under typical American eccentricity, the kind of quirky detail you’d see in a crime novel set in the South. Right-wing culture war has gutted the soul of this country.”
There was some raw grief.
A friend of Bubba’s posted to Facebook:
“I witnessed a good man be publicly ridiculed and crucified over the last few days… I just want to ask you people who thought it humorous to publicly ridicule him, ‘Are you happy now?’”
The church placed a memorial on the lawn, and hosted a funeral for its pastor. 🔶
