Cross-Dressing GOP Mayor Commits Suicide After His Photos Are Revealed

(RepublicanJournal.org) – A Republican mayor shot himself dead after being unmasked as a transvestite. F.L. Copeland, known as “Bubba,” was outed by a conservative blog; two days later he committed suicide.

Bubba Copeland was elected mayor of Smiths Station, Alabama, in 2016, after running on a platform of growing the town’s economy. He succeeded in that, despite the town suffering serious damage from a storm in March 2020. Copeland was proud of his small town — its population is less than 5,400 people — and praised it for its low crime and scarce drug problems. The only problem he did identify, in a foreshadowing of his own fate, was suicide — “Our number one problem,” he said. As well as his job as mayor, Copeland was also pastor of the First Baptist Church in nearby Phenix City.

There was more to Copeland than his political and religious roles, though, and on November 1 a conservative blog, 1819 News, revealed it. In an article, the blog described how Copeland also had a secret identity as “Brittini Blaire Summerlin,” who described herself as “A Transitioning Transgender Curvy Girl.” Copeland ran social media accounts under the Summerlin name and was a member of transgender, plus size, and “Big Bimbo women” groups. The blog also tracked down photos of Copeland wearing women’s clothing.

The day the story broke, Copeland gave a sermon at his church, and told the congregation he’d been the victim of “an internet attack.” He admitted having taken pictures at home with his wife and apologized to his parishioners for any embarrassment he’d caused them. 1819 News reported that he also told them it was a hobby and fantasy that he used to relieve stress.

Tragically, it seems the stress of exposure was too much for Copeland. On November 3, while the Lee County Sheriff’s Office was carrying out a welfare check on him, he fatally shot himself. The next day his church posted a Facebook message thanking people for their prayers and asking them to “keep Pastor Bubba Copeland’s family in your prayers.”