Multiple women have come forward to reveal they were victimized by now-deceased Smiths station Mayor F.L. “Bubba” Copeland after discovering that he had shared their names and photos to pornography sites without their knowledge. Copeland took his own life last week after a damning expose was released by the 1819 Project unravelling the sick details of his secret “transgender” double-life — one that included penning erotic fantasies of murdering a local woman.
Despite having demonstrated a number of predatory behaviors, Copeland’s suicide has been portrayed sympathetically by major media outlets, resulting in an outpouring of support. A makeshift memorial dedicated to the former mayor and pastor was set up outside First Baptist Church on Sunday in Phenix, Alabama, causing the women targeted by his perverse behavior to struggle with a “mix of emotions.”
One of Copeland’s constituents, Ansley Summerlin, spoke with WTVM in a report published November 8, and explained that she has become aware that the now-deceased mayor had shared her photo to at least nine porn sites. The victim’s surname, “Summerlin,” was also one that Copeland had adopted for his feminine alter-ego, going by “Brittani Summerlin” on a number of sites.
“I had some people start sending me photos that were posted of me on multiple porn sites, that also had pictures of ‘Brittini’ as well. He proceeded to use my first and middle name on these sites. There are about nine sites now that have five or six photos of my face and my name across the internet,” Summerlin said.
Another woman who declined to identify herself stated that she had also been victimized by Copeland.
“It said my first and last name, and it was basically describing the way that I look — and intensified, I guess, as a porn star,” the unidentified woman told WTVM. “And it went into very graphic detail. I didn’t get past the first page because I honestly couldn’t stomach it.”
Members of the First Baptist Church conducted a memorial service on Sunday which was broadcast on their Facebook page. One unidentified man who opened the service spoke of the community’s “love and concern” for Copeland.
“We gather today for this service with a profound sense of sadness and loss. Despite what may have been implied in the media, members of this church have been steadfast in their love and concern for our pastor. I cannot tell you that I fully understand or can explain the scope of his tragedy,” he said.
During his final public address to his church on Wednesday, Copeland responded to the 1819 report and said his online fetish behavior was a hobby to relieve stress, and portrayed the article as “an internet attack.”
“Congregation, church, Facebook, I have been an object of an internet attack. An article that was written about my capacity as a mayor, capacity as a pastor,” Copeland said.
“The article is not who or what I am. Yes, I have taken pictures with 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 gone publicly,” he said.
Many news reports on Copeland’s suicide neglected to mention his disturbing sexual fantasies and instead depicted him as a victim of bullying and “transphobia.”
NBC News claimed the incident “underscores the potential dangers of outing, or revealing a person’s real or perceived sexual orientation or gender identity against their will.” Multiple major outlets published similar sentiments.
The Advocate, one of the largest pro-LGBT outlets in the US, used “they/them” pronouns in their article announcing Copeland’s death, which the publication blamed on “harsh judgments” that can occur when information about individuals’ “private lives, particularly concerning their sexual orientation or gender identity, are involuntarily thrust into the public domain.”
Copeland is survived by a wife and three young children. He had been married for over a decade at the time of his suicide.
As previously reported by Reduxx, Copeland had been posting transgender fetish content and graphic sexual narratives across social media platforms. In one of many disturbing short stories, Copeland, who owned a local grocery store, wrote about watching women on in-store security cameras, and saving the videos for his “private collection.”
On his Tumblr account, Copeland promoted the use of feminizing hormones and surgeries for men who wish to “become [a] whore.” Themes of “bimbofication” and “sissification” extended throughout his online persona, with Copeland expressing arousal and enjoyment at the thought of being reduced to a feminine sexual object for male use.
Some of the photos and shared images featured on Copeland’s Tumblr blog had a theme of younger boys being transitioned into girls, commonly referred to online as “sissification.” Images of children or teens with eroticized text describing transforming from male into female are known as “sissy captions,” and Copeland had been participating in a Reddit forum on the theme. While the images, which sometimes included photos of actual minors, were non-sexual in appearance, they were passed through “erotica” accounts.
In many of Copeland’s writings, he presents feminization as being a “sexual punishment” or a “bimbo transformation.” The motivation for transition is described as being for sexual gratification, or in order to increase sexual access for the men he fantasizes about satisfying.
On Fictionmania, a self-publication platform for erotic stories, Copeland authored four tales centered around becoming a woman. While his first story, titled Becoming Christine, was rated “G” for a lack of graphic content, all of Copeland’s subsequent stories were rated “XXX.”
Copeland’s fictional exploits took a dark turn in 2021, when he published “Dangerous Obsession.” In the story, Copeland describes becoming obsessed with a local business owner, who he ultimately murders to assume her identity. The woman murdered in the story is a real individual who lives in Copeland’s community.
“I wanted her life! Staring at her on the latest social media application, all I could think about was how amazing it must be to be her,” Copeland wrote. “At 29 years old, married, and due to gastric bypass surgery had lost a lot of weight, she looked on top of the world… nothing could stop me from turning myself into her carbon copy.”
Copeland’s narration describes undergoing dramatic plastic surgery to “become” the woman he is stalking. “I wonder does she take a shower or a bath? Do her panties and bra match all the time? These are the thoughts that plague my mind. Being a relatively good hacker, I had to figure out a way to install Spyware on her devices,” Copeland wrote.
He then pursues the woman on a cruise ship. After a violent struggle in which the victim screams and cries, Copeland pushes her over the rail of the ship. Before murdering her, Copeland’s character steals the victim’s wedding ring set.
“Grabbing her by her left hand, I had to get one last piece of her to complete my plan. Doing her best to fight me, I had to get her wedding set! Those two rings had become the object of my desire,” he writes. “No one heard a thing. As the real [victim’s name redacted] hit the water, Lost forever!”
Elements of Copeland’s fantasies resemble common tropes depicted in erotic transgender fiction. Notably, the designer of the transgender pride flag, Monica Helms (born Robert Hogge), wrote stories that incorporated themes of identity theft and body-swapping. In one story, titled “Sexual Harassment,” a man with a crossdressing fetish assumes his wife’s name and identity after she is killed in a car accident, and begins wearing her clothes to bars in order to have sexual encounters with men.
Members of a crossdressing forum have posted a memorial statement dedicated to Copeland, who they refer to with both masculine and feminine pronouns and describe as a “crossdressing sister.” One participant who uses the screen name “Belladonna Bluest” wrote:
“I would like to remind all of us: We are not doing anything illegal, violent/directly harmful to any living being. We are literally playing dress up. Our hobby is no different from someone whom builds model train sets in their home. We have nothing to fear or be ashamed of. In fact, many of us should be proud of whom we are as people, contributing to this big melting pot called life and how good we look En Femme.”
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