U.S. pastor commits suicide after cross-dressing photos leak

By Jimmy

A popular U.S. Baptist pastor and a Mayor of Alabama, Bubba Copeland, committed suicide on Friday.

The small-town Mayor of Smiths Station killed himself after a news site published a story about his “secret life” and shared photos of him wearing women’s clothes.

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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That post, written by Craig Monger, had the rambling headline: The secret life of Smiths Station Mayor and Baptist pastor F.L. ‘Bubba’ Copeland as a ‘transgender curvy girl’: ‘It’s a hobby I do to relieve stress’.

1819 News published the username to Copeland’s Reddit and Instagram accounts, writing that he posed “in various outfits, some more racy than others.” The blog also said that Copeland used the pseudonym “Brittini Blaire Summerlin” and posted pornography and advice on chemically transitioning.

1819 News reported that Copeland asked them to not out him, but they did so anyway, even though it does not appear he had taken any public positions against LGBTQ issues that could be construed as hypocritical.

According to Yahoo News, the mayor, who served as the pastor at the First Baptist Church of Phenix City, spoke on the issue on Wednesday. He told his church members that the photographs were a private matter, adding the incident would not change “my devotion to my family, to serving my city, serving my church.”

“Yes, I have taken pictures with my wife in the privacy of our home in an attempt of humour because I know I’m not a handsome man nor a beautiful woman, either,” Copeland said. “I apologize for any embarrassment caused by my private, personal life.”

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On Friday, authorities in Lee County were asked to perform a welfare check on the mayor, according to a local television station WTVM. He was soon found in Beulah, an unincorporated community in the northeast corner of Lee County.

Deputies began slowly pursuing Copeland, who at one point, pulled over, exited the vehicle and produced a handgun, which he used to commit suicide.

The church, on Saturday, posted a message on Facebook thanking people for their “prayers and expressions of sympathy and support.

“First and foremost, we ask that you keep Pastor Bubba Copeland’s family in your prayers today, and in the days ahead. We greatly appreciate your messages, comments, and encouragement. Please continue to pray for us as we move forward in sharing God’s love to all people”