this post was submitted on 04 Nov 2023
1240 points (98.3% liked)

News

23287 readers
5491 users here now

Welcome to the News community!

Rules:

1. Be civil


Attack the argument, not the person. No racism/sexism/bigotry. Good faith argumentation only. This includes accusing another user of being a bot or paid actor. Trolling is uncivil and is grounds for removal and/or a community ban. Do not respond to rule-breaking content; report it and move on.


2. All posts should contain a source (url) that is as reliable and unbiased as possible and must only contain one link.


Obvious right or left wing sources will be removed at the mods discretion. We have an actively updated blocklist, which you can see here: https://lemmy.world/post/2246130 if you feel like any website is missing, contact the mods. Supporting links can be added in comments or posted seperately but not to the post body.


3. No bots, spam or self-promotion.


Only approved bots, which follow the guidelines for bots set by the instance, are allowed.


4. Post titles should be the same as the article used as source.


Posts which titles don’t match the source won’t be removed, but the autoMod will notify you, and if your title misrepresents the original article, the post will be deleted. If the site changed their headline, the bot might still contact you, just ignore it, we won’t delete your post.


5. Only recent news is allowed.


Posts must be news from the most recent 30 days.


6. All posts must be news articles.


No opinion pieces, Listicles, editorials or celebrity gossip is allowed. All posts will be judged on a case-by-case basis.


7. No duplicate posts.


If a source you used was already posted by someone else, the autoMod will leave a message. Please remove your post if the autoMod is correct. If the post that matches your post is very old, we refer you to rule 5.


8. Misinformation is prohibited.


Misinformation / propaganda is strictly prohibited. Any comment or post containing or linking to misinformation will be removed. If you feel that your post has been removed in error, credible sources must be provided.


9. No link shorteners.


The auto mod will contact you if a link shortener is detected, please delete your post if they are right.


10. Don't copy entire article in your post body


For copyright reasons, you are not allowed to copy an entire article into your post body. This is an instance wide rule, that is strictly enforced in this community.

founded 1 year ago
MODERATORS
 

Bubba Copeland shot himself in front of police on Friday, days after he begged 1819 News not to expose his private life.

top 50 comments
sorted by: hot top controversial new old
[–] ChunkMcHorkle@lemmy.world 366 points 1 year ago* (last edited 6 months ago) (36 children)
[–] CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world 167 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I love what John Oliver said on his segment about I believe Lindsay Graham.

Paraphrasing, he could have helped usher in the change that would have made his lifestyle more acceptable and more inclusive. But he wanted power.

These people choose to be a Republican. They choose to associate with a party that is actively trying to eliminate the very people they are and the sad thing is that they think they are the exception. They think the party will accept them.

And the hard, harsh truth is that they are only accepted so long as it's convenient. I think he knew this and that's why he chose to end his life.

It's sad that he felt he had to do that. But I'm not holding my breath for the GOP to say that they learned a lesson from it.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] PotatoesFall@discuss.tchncs.de 29 points 1 year ago (27 children)

He also apparently did not have overt anti-LGBTQIA+ values, beyond being a member of the GOP.

Yes and (?) was never antisemitic, beyond being member of the nazi party. (???)

If you are part of a party that stands STAUNCHELY against queers, you don't deserve solidarity for being queer.

load more comments (27 replies)
load more comments (34 replies)
[–] Nougat@kbin.social 235 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (4 children)

Also a pastor, "shot himself in front of police during a welfare check." It also appears that his wife was aware and involved with the hobby (not with the suicide), presumably in a supporting way.

I may disagree very strongly with this guy's politics, but fuck the assholes who make this shameful.

@Poutinetown quotes from the article:

... even though it does not appear [Copeland] had taken any public positions against LGBTQ issues that could be construed as hypocritical.

[–] sik0fewl@kbin.social 187 points 1 year ago (6 children)

These are the assholes who make it shameful.

[–] cmbabul@lemmy.world 78 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Leopard face eating moment

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Poutinetown@lemmy.ca 34 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The blog reported that Copeland, a Republican, confirmed that the accounts were run by him, saying they were a “hobby” he used for “getting rid of stress.” 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.

load more comments (1 replies)
load more comments (4 replies)
load more comments (3 replies)
[–] PeleSpirit@lemmy.world 153 points 1 year ago (10 children)

Do we know if he was anti-trans? It's super sad that he had to actually kill himself because he couldn't be himself. The GOP has created a really shitty life for a lot of people.

[–] Son_of_dad@lemmy.world 114 points 1 year ago (14 children)

He's conservative and even had a meeting with Trump. That's the worst of it I think, he was ok with persecuting trans people till he was outed.

[–] Bonehead@kbin.social 125 points 1 year ago (19 children)

To be fair, being trans is not the same as being a crossdresser.

load more comments (19 replies)
load more comments (13 replies)
[–] Carnelian@lemmy.world 79 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Reading other articles it seems like no, he was generally very positive and encouraging to others online. The impression I get (from 10 minutes of reading, not saying this conclusively) is that he was not overtly hostile whatsoever to trans people.

There are enormous social pressures in small conservative towns, and the man was 63. I can imagine life leading someone otherwise pro-trans into being a republican preacher in that environment. An awful tragedy

[–] DreamerofDays@kbin.social 42 points 1 year ago

This. People are complicated, even when it is inconvenient.

[–] SheeEttin@lemmy.world 47 points 1 year ago (1 children)

it does not appear he had taken any public positions against LGBTQ issues that could be construed as hypocritical

[–] snooggums@kbin.social 54 points 1 year ago (19 children)

Except for being a member of the anti LGBTQ party.

load more comments (19 replies)
[–] Rusticus@lemmy.world 31 points 1 year ago

The GOP has created a really shitty life for a lot of people.

It's a feature, not a bug.

load more comments (6 replies)
[–] cricket98@lemmy.world 112 points 1 year ago (44 children)

This comment section is hilarious. Some people are praising his suicide simply because he was a part of the republican party, while others are saying that "no one deserves being bullied for being trans" yet what everyone seems to miss is this guy was a grade A pervert who was posting pictures of real children in his transition fetish memes that he posted online. He also stalked a local business woman and wrote erotica about taking over her life and becoming her through hormones and surgery then murdering her and replacing her. A real woman btw.

So much cognitive dissonance in this thread and I'm here for it.

Read up what he did here 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

load more comments (44 replies)
[–] afraid_of_zombies@lemmy.world 105 points 1 year ago (7 children)

Christianity once again demonstrates it's outstanding moral virtues.

load more comments (7 replies)
[–] Wahots@pawb.social 100 points 1 year ago (2 children)

What a waste. Regardless of his political affiliations, it's sad that someone got bullied so hard that they decided to take their own life. It's what we fight for in the LGBTQ community and beyond- so nobody feels that their life is over if discovered. Nor should it be a big deal, regardless. It's what we've been fighting for since the Lavender Scare, and we'll keep fighting for a general sense of normalcy for everyday Americans, regardless of political orientation.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] peopleproblems@lemmy.world 99 points 1 year ago (4 children)

I think it's a good reminder that one of Hitler's closest "friends" and instrumental in the rise to power of the nazi party, was executed in the night of the Long knives. Ernst Rohm was publicly known to be gay. Due to this close relationship with Hitler, they determined it would weaken Hitler's image.

Copeland certainly won't be the last GOP casualty due to their bigoted policies.

load more comments (4 replies)
[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 84 points 1 year ago (13 children)

Hours before Copeland’s death, Hemant Mehta, who runs the popular religion blog Friendly Atheist, noted that Copeland did not appear to have bigoted views toward transgender people or people who simply enjoy cross-dressing.

“There’s a story making the rounds about an Alabama preacher/mayor who secretly dresses in drag and adopts the persona of a trans woman on social media,” Mehta tweeted. “The problem? It’s not clear he’s a hypocrite. If he’s not a bigot, why is he being outed?”

https://www.mediaite.com/news/mayor-commits-suicide-after-conservative-website-publishes-photos-of-him-in-womens-clothing/

[–] unoriginalsin@lemmy.world 30 points 1 year ago (22 children)

Mehta tweeted. “The problem? It’s not clear he’s a hypocrite. If he’s not a bigot, why is he being outed?”

Maybe we shouldn't be outing anyone. One's personal sexuality isn't anybody else's business. Even if one is a bigot.

[–] FlyingSquid@lemmy.world 39 points 1 year ago (11 children)

I think there is a good argument to be made for outing someone closeted who is using their power to oppress LGBT+ people, but there is also a trend of labeling any homophobic politician as being in the closet when a lot of them are just plain old bigots.

load more comments (11 replies)
load more comments (21 replies)
load more comments (12 replies)
[–] Birdie@thelemmy.club 73 points 1 year ago (11 children)

Guys, he not only was a Republican, he was a Baptist preacher. He aligned himself with these two LGBTQ hater groups.

Maybe he joined the GOP and the Baptist denomination in an attempt to shield his lifestyle, but he willingly belonged to these two groups which both actively HATE LGBTQ and condemn his very lifestyle.

I have a lot of sympathy for people who feel they must disguise their true selves in order to protect themselves...and I respect that he tried to reach out and offer support to others online.

But I'm hearing some very disturbing 'rumors' that he posted hateful, stalking, character assassination of particular people online. And accusations of child porn.

I'm going to reserve my sympathy for him for now, until the whole truth is known.

load more comments (11 replies)
[–] Veedem@lemmy.world 68 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Really sad that he didn’t feel it was ok to be himself and chose to end his life.

[–] TheFriar@lemm.ee 29 points 1 year ago

I don’t think he killed himself because he wasn’t accepting of himself, but because he was being tormented and ridiculed and had his entire life turned upside down for who he was. Big difference.

[–] Gabu@lemmy.world 54 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Queer man surprised when anti-queer party he's joined deems him a target. More non-news at 11.

load more comments (2 replies)
[–] TokenBoomer@lemmy.world 43 points 1 year ago

Leopards…leopards.

[–] catboss@feddit.de 42 points 1 year ago (20 children)

I hate Republicans for all they do and stand for, but nobody kills themselves just for fun. This guy was mentally ill (aside from being in the GOP) and got pushed over the brink by an asshole.

You don't have to be sad about his death, but suicide is not normal and should never be encouraged like some here basically do.

[–] MuhammadJesusGaySex@lemmy.world 63 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (24 children)

While I agree that suicide should never ever ever be encouraged. I don’t think it’s necessarily a mental illness. This person was going to or already had lost everything they had ever known and worked for. They would have been a pariah in their town. They very likely would have been disowned by family and friends. It’s a little late in life to be starting all over somewhere new. I don’t think it’s crazy to contemplate unconventional exit strategies in that case.

Source: I am from small rural town Alabama.

I also think that we should remove the negative stigma behind suicide. After all, even bringing it up with a mental health professional can and will get you essentially arrested for 48 to 72 hours which discourages people from seeking help.

load more comments (24 replies)
load more comments (19 replies)
[–] Riccosuave@lemmy.world 42 points 1 year ago (19 children)

But, but, but, I didn't think the leopards were going to eat MY FACE!!!

/shockedpikachuemoji

load more comments (19 replies)
[–] Elliott@lemmy.world 40 points 1 year ago (1 children)

So the man who dressed in women's clothing supported the party that hates men who dress in woman's clothing. Hard to have much empathy.

load more comments (1 replies)
[–] TheBlue22@lemmy.blahaj.zone 39 points 1 year ago (9 children)
load more comments (9 replies)
[–] Saltblue@lemmy.world 27 points 1 year ago

That guy killed himself because his political career was over, all his work, all his grift, to the trash. So I doubt it was for bullying entirely.

A pastor would have concocted some bullshit about being possessed by the devil, and sell hard the repentant image.

[–] some_guy@lemmy.sdf.org 24 points 1 year ago

He added that it would “not cause my life to change.”

Well, that was wrong. /s

Seriously, though… it's almost as though being a member of a hate-group (conservatism) results in terrible outcomes when you're on the outs with said group.

load more comments
view more: next ›