Evil, dogmatic, inflexible, faith-based hate takes another life.

Telling people that "god" says they don't have a right to exist is wrong.

It doesn't matter which religion, which god or gods, or which group.

Hating people to make yourself feel "special" and "superior" is not right.

It's wrong.


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https://www.losangelesblade.com/2023/11/04/anti-lgbtq-hate-proves-fatal-baptist-pastor-dies-by-suicide/


SMITHS STATION, Ala. – F.L. “Bubba” Copeland was the duly elected mayor of Smiths Station, a town in Lee County, Alabama. It is part of the neighboring Columbus, Georgia metropolitan area. Copeland was also pastor of the First Baptist Church of Phenix City, which sits across the Chattahoochee River from Columbus.

By all accounts “Bubba,” as he was known in this small town of 6,756, was very popular, respected and beloved but early Friday evening, Nov. 3, he killed himself after a far-right publication published photos and a story detailing the pastor-mayor’s private and secret life.

Lee County Sheriff Jay Jones told media outlets that Copeland, a married father of three, “took his own life” around 5 p.m. According to the Sheriff, at around 4:15 p.m. CT, his deputies received information regarding the mayor needing a possible welfare check. Deputies found Copeland in the Beulah community area, where a slow pursuit began. Officials say the mayor turned onto Lee Road and pulled over. When he exited his vehicle, he produced a handgun and used it to take his own life.

The tragic death of the pastor-mayor stemmed from an article published by writer Craig Monger on the far-right wing media website 1819 News earlier in the week. 1819 News is a website that was once owned by the Alabama Policy Institute, a conservative group that is staunchly anti-LGBTQ+ and has filed multiple lawsuits against same-sex marriage.

Monger’s article disclosed Copeland’s secret online social media alter persona Brittini Blaire Summerlin, which listed Copeland self labeled as a ‘transitioning’ transgender woman. Monger goes on to publish screenshots of other photos and entries including some photos that 1819 News alerted readers with the caution: “WARNING: EXPLICIT PHOTOS.”

Copeland told Monger that he could confirm that he operated the various social media accounts and it was him who was featured in the photos. He claimed it was only a means of “getting rid of stress” and called the postings a “hobby” and a “fantasy.” The pastor-mayor said his erotica and trans persona was “purely fiction.”

According to Monger, after the interview, Copeland promptly deleted the accounts and asked them not to be made public due to his family and position as a Baptist pastor.


Reaction from the Christian anti-LGBTQ+ right groups, however, was unsympathetic.

“We have become aware of the alleged unbiblical behavior related to the pastor of the First Baptist Church of Phenix City. 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. We are in consultation with the Russell Baptist Association’s leadership as they endeavor to assist the First Baptist family during this critical time of need,” the Alabama Baptist State Convention and Alabama Baptist State Board of Missions said in a statement to the Alabama Baptist, a news outlet for the state’s Baptist churches.


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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2023 04:58PM by anybody.

So very tragic. . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89vian_Conference

If you don't know about that, it was a pre-WW2 summit meeting of western democracies about Nazi persecution of Jews. They condemned the persecution, but ultimately decided to not to allow Jews admission into their countries. Then I found out about the M.S. St. Louis -- the ship that made it to Cuba and was forced to go back.


After hearing about all this, I swore that when my time came, when I would be confronted with the evils of hatred and oppression, I would not remain silent. I wouldn't just silently go along. I would speak out.


This isn't some theoretical thing anymore. People are fleeing for the lives. It's not a joke or a game -- and faith-based hate is the cause.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trans-kids-flee-united-states-safety_n_654c44c7e4b088d9a74d2028



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/12/2023 08:59PM by anybody.

I thought he was cute...

I wonder what they'd have thought of him if they knew he preferred cricket over football?

The two community members interviewed in this article who actually knew him were supportive of him. So a community lost its mayor, a church lost its minister, a wife lost her partner, and three young children lost their dad due to some outside haters and agitators. Craig Monger (the author of the article that outed him,) and the entire SBC must be so proud of themselves.

https://1819news.com/news/item/to-say-i-was-a-stalker-would-be-a-bit-of-an-understatement-curvy-transgender-smiths-station-mayor-copeland-wrote-fiction-about-murdering-real-life-local-businesswoman-assuming-her-identity
He posted regarding a local businesswoman, whom he names.
"In my cubicle I scanned her page," the story reads. "'She posted a new picture!' Excited I screenshot it to add to my ever-growing collection. To say I was a stalker would be a bit of an understatement. Every post she made I studied it, analyzing and taking notes of her daily routine. What she ate, what she drank, from her favorite coffee to her favorite alcoholic drink. Her life had become my obsession."

The story details the narrator installing tracking malware to spy on the business owner. The narrator also begins a hormone treatment regimen, buying similar clothes, and training in the woman's profession to assume her identity.

The story then goes into a graphic description of the narrator seducing the woman's husband after fully assuming his female identity. It concludes with the narrator assailing the woman on a cruise ship, taking her wedding and engagement rings, and finally throwing her to her death.

Copeland frequently used pictures and details from local residents in his online life. On his Reddit page and elsewhere, he would often post fictional memes featuring young boys and girls with the illusion that the young people in the memes were one person who had undergone a gender transition.

One meme featured a local brother and sister, at least one of which is a minor, with the caption, "Take the shots, get implants, become the whore." The meme was designed to give the impression that the young boy had transitioned into a young girl.

After the initial story ran, the father of the two children contacted 1819 News, asking the picture to be removed to protect the children's privacy. The image of the minor boy appears to have been taken from the father's social media, as it is currently featured there.

One featured picture is a meme, once again created with the illusion that the two people in the picture are one and the same, having undergone a gender change.

Well now, that puts a different twist on things. How bizarre!

One of my local churches has a trans pastor and has lots of signs on the outside telling people "God loves all". There are rainbow flags all over the place. Environmental and social justice slogans all over the place.

There is another church down the road which is part of a bigger Presbyterian outfit. Similar scenario.

Both churches are on the point of closing. Gay and trans people aren't joining up in big numbers and the others are either leaving or aging out. You need a congregation to oay for a big old building and if you don't have that... these churches are dying.

In contrast, there are churches round here which are growing but they mostly tend to be African or happy clappy. The new African churches are not pro-LGBT at all.

Before anyone shoots the messenger, I'm just reporting things as they are.

I have never attended services at either of these churches, but I know people who go to both of them. I visit the church with the trans pastor quite often because the space is rented out to various community groups, so I get to see all the social messaging they have up on the walls.

I believe that there has been an LDS splinter or two which was pro-LGBT. The CoC/RLDS is partly down that route. What it does for their attendance is another matter.