TW: GOP mayor dies by suicide after cross-dressing revealed by rightwing site

[SerendipityJane]

Given how the GOP hasn't even started erasing women from the US, this seems of interest

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/mayor-bubba-copeland-alabama-suicide-b2441961.html

Very sad situation.

What’s GOP?

While it’s sad and no one should be bullied in that way, neither should public figures lead double lives.

If I were a pastor who wanted to explore that side of my sexuality, I would move to a church or community where that would be acceptable.

Call me naive, but should we be doing things that we can be blackmailed over? It’s something I’ve never understood.

It really is tragic, and I feel for his wife. It’s awful he felt so threatened by exposure.

I don’t understand being a leader among people who do not share your values.

GOP is Grand Old Party - the Republican party.

For a slightly different take on this story, try Reduxx:

"The suicide of an Alabama mayor who was revealed to be fetishistically crossdressing is being portrayed sympathetically by media, with the death receiving an outpouring of sympathy from trans activists. Despite the harrowing eulogies, Smiths Station Mayor F.L. “Bubba” Copeland had violent sexual fantasies, including one of murdering a woman and assuming her identity."

https://reduxx.info/trans-activists-mourn-alabama-mayor-who-committed-suicide-after-being-outed-as-a-crossdresser-who-fantasized-about-murdering-woman/

What’s GOP?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Republican_Party_(United_States)

Imagine a far-right version of UKIP/Reform/Tories with less intelligence and empathy

GOP = Grand Old Party, i.e. the Republicans.

Story's a bit more nuanced according to Redduxx. Seems this individual had published sissy points, including a story in which he fantasized about murdering a real-life local woman by drowning her.

This thread is going too fast 😄

Charming. So a man with particularly misogynistic and violent fantasies is exposed as such.
Said person also being a hypocrite, given his political and religious position.

Struggling now to access empathy mode.

Agree, the 'blame it on the evil feminists' can't exactly be held up!

I imagine being exposed as a porn-adled man to his wife and religuous community is what went down here, nothing to do with evil feminists.

That's being said, he didn't actually commit a crime (that we know of) and I'm a little uncomfortable with people being attacked for creative writing and fantasies, however distasteful. That alos being said, I'm also struggling to come up with that much empathy for a man who decided his wife and thinks it's ok to skinwalk as a woman.

Deceived his wife

I think the story is more nuanced than either side (Independent or Reduxx) is making it out to be.

The guy was a Republican mayor, a secret cross-dresser, had various online profiles as his female alter-ego and wrote stories.

One of his stories featured the murder or a woman and a man assuming her identity. Now I don't know how much of it is based off of local people, but I would just be a bit cautious saying that anyone who writes violent fiction is a wrong-un, because any thriller writer would be given the same write-up. More details are required.

Was his suicide out of embarrassment or was there something else sinister to be revealed?

He has three young kids who have to live with this. Why do these guys do it? How can they pursue a life that’s incompatible with their family?

When does porn fiction become fiction when the author seems to be living the life and writing promoting sissification?

You are claiming nuance here and treating this man like an author, yet there seems too many cross overs in their real life to be merely just fiction and not a fantasy that they actually had.

If, as has been suggested, his murder story was about a real life local woman, then I'd say that becomes a criminal matter as it's basically a threat and certainly harassment, and deeply deeply worrying. Not in any way comparable to a crime writer, writing about fictional characters.

I already said that he was a cross-dresser, I never said that that was fictional, what I said was that the violent fantasies (to the best of our knowledge) were fictional and just that.

I have said that it is nuanced as there is more than either side is painting. I have clearly questioned whether there is more to come out. You are making assumptions that he is violent in real life, whilst I am saying that I will wait and see.

Put it this way, there currently is too little evidence for him theoretically (as he is now dead) to be charged with violence or plotting violence.

You are making assumptions that he is violent in real life,

And point me to where someone said that?

Man who writes about violence then kills himself in a violent manner.

I feel sorry for his family. Not him.

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.

From here:

What @PaperWalkAndTalk said. We wouldn’t say that Stephen King and other writers who write about violent murders, deaths should kill themselves. I don’t see anything saying he’d made threats against people or harmed people 🤷‍♀️

I see a lot of arguments here against being pigeon holed by biological sex. So if a man has been ridiculed and hounded to death for wearing female attire I think that’s quite sad.

Stephen King doesn't write about himself murdering real people he knows.

No one here has said that he should have killed himself.

I don’t think we know that this man wrote about murdering someone he knows. So an article in Reduxx reckons a character in one of his stories was based on a real person. So what. Firstly I don’t believe everything on Reduxx.

Secondly he wrote them anonymously on a very niche platform with no reference to real names or a person.

Seems like since he was unmasked people have put 2 and 2 together and quite possibly made 5. Maybe it wasn’t based on anyone he knew but someone has seen a few similarities and made assumptions. Maybe he was a shit writer who couldn’t think of a character from scratch so did base it on someone but never meant for them to be identified (and if he hadn’t been exposed they wouldn’t have been).

I didn’t say anyone on here did say he should have killed himself but I’ve seen it on other platforms. Someone on here though has said they have no sympathy which alludes to a similar train of thought. No sympathy =he deserved it.

GOP is right-wing itself.

Why the feck are people turning on Stephen King?!! 😂

And Stephen King does base some of his characters on people he knows/knew in real life. Carrie is apparently a composition of two girls he knew at school.

He wasn't very smart to not change the names and identiying details in his fiction but that suggests to me that it was more about him getting off on the fetish of being a woman he was envious of in RL. For all we know Stephen King also has real life people in mind when he writes about murders but he's not stupid enough to use a real person's details. Meh. Sad but also pathetic to torpedo your life for a wank or two.

Of course people are entitled to a private life without scrutiny and fear !