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

    • CosmicTurtle@lemmy.world
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      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.

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        Being a mayor of a small town and being a US Senator or even House Rep are two very different things. It is very likely that, despite being Republican, he did nothing to further Republicanism with the power that he did have.

        Most of the time, mayors really just do small town mayor shit like approving a tree to be cut down or asking the state for a road to be fixed. They’re not usually involved with politics in the way Lindsey fucking Graham is.

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      Stop white washing this shithead. He was a horrible person who was perfectly fine persecuting others BUT THE FUCKING IMSTANT IT CAME BACK ON HIM HE OFFED HIMSELF.

      THIS WAS NOT A GOOD PERSON, CLOSET LGBTQ OR NO.

      • Wrench@lemmy.world
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        You got a source for that, besides simply being a member of the GOP in s location where there is no plausible alternative?

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          no plausible alternative?

          Are you kidding me!? “He had to be part of the anti-LGBTQ party because of where he lived”. Fuck out of here with that nonsense. I deleted my longer comment, let me sum it to for you:

          • He didn’t have to live in Alabama
          • He didn’t have to be part of the anti-LGBTQ+ (or any) party
          • He didn’t have have to run for political office
          • He didn’t have to engage in crossdressing

          If any of those conflict with each other, well; life is about choices. Anything less is cowardice.

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            Get a grip. I asked for a source that the person, who you all are celebrating the suicide of, was actually a terrible person or partook in the persecution of others.

            That was the assertion that I was responding to, and none of that was mentioned in any source in this thread besides wild assumptions by people simply for being in the republican party in a small town.

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              Meh sometimes people just hate someone for not understanding them. And that’s enough. You don’t always need to pretend to have a good reason for hating someone, you just decide and then one day someone asks you why, like asking about babies crying in Africa, people often prefer not to have their beliefs challenged or broken to pieces by any kind of paradigm shift

            • Empricorn@feddit.nl
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              None of those words backs up your assertion, which was that there was “no plausible alternative” to being a GOP politician in Alabama. You can’t defend it because it’s complete nonsense.

              Also, I didn’t celebrate his death, and I haven’t seen anyone else do so either…

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          If you choose to part of an organization dedicated to dominance at other’s expense you’re not a good person.

        • SuddenlyBlowGreen@lemmy.world
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          besides simply being a member of the GOP in s location where there is no plausible alternative

          You know that democrats do live in Alabama, right?

          • Wrench@lemmy.world
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            Source: rural Alabama and a basic understanding of political party distribution in the US

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                In most rural areas of the South, it’s a racial divide between which are Republican or Democrat. Where I’m from, a white person being a Democrat would be, and are, actively threatened and hurt if they voice their opinion (by white Republicans).

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      But the rest of the small minded fucks in his small minded town who were laughing and pointing? And the asshole who outed him? Now THAT’S a different story, and I hope their laughter becomes a curse to them.

      How many of those are also hiding their sexuality/gender just because of the same reasons that you mentioned?

      Im sorry for the guy that shot himself, but he was part of the problem. It doesn’t matter the reason why someone is a church goer, Trump supporter, one less of them is always good.

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      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.

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        You can blame that on the US’s bipartisan system rather than the multiparty system it is supposed to be.

        What other option would he have, the democrats? What if there are things that they did he didn’t agree with either? 3rd party is out the window because it would take minimum 2 elections to get their candidate in office.

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          Oh no, poor guy had literally no choice but to participate in a corrupt system by going into politics and becoming a mayor 😭

          Get the fuck outta here.

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            Ah yes, you shouldn’t go into politics to make the changes you would like to see because the “system is corrupt”

            Man, imagine being that retarded. The forefathers would have never revolted against the British if that logic actually made any sense whatsoever.

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                Whoops! It seems like you may of missed what I wrote, no worries though, I got you covered.

                Ah yes, you shouldn’t go into politics to make the changes you would like to see because the “system is corrupt”

                Man, imagine being that retarded. The forefathers would have never revolted against the British if that logic actually made any sense whatsoever.

                Fighting evil with evil doesn’t make you a good guy. Don’t be evil, you can defeat fascists while still being a decent human being.

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          Plenty of options. Didn’t have to be a shaman, didn’t have to live in a sheit tier state, didn’t have to run for public office, didn’t have to support the GOP. He went up to the leopard and screamed “eat my face”.

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            I mean, he was 62 years old you know, not like he could just turn his life around on a dime given the position he was in.

            The dude was not hurting anyone. He clearly wanted to help operate the city, you have zero chance of winning with the democratic party in the vast majority of deep south states. Being a part of a party does not mean you believe in every single view that someone in your party holds, why do you think half the GOP is trying to get rid of Trump?

            And would you stop with this leopard eating shit? I have read it here like 40,000 times. Suicide isn’t a joke, this is borderline not even a story about politics FFS. Save it for actually funny shit.

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              Boy that leopard is getting fat. Must be from all the faces it is eating. He fed the leopard for fucking decades.

              You really think his church gives a shit? I bet during their weekly pretend time this morning they were celebrating.

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                Did I say anything about a church?

                Are you an actual human being? I don’t give a shit about the church, I don’t give a shit about religion in general at all actually.

                The fact you mentioned that raises my suspicion that you are a bot or something

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                  I am mentioning the church. He was a leader for a denomination of Christianity infamous for the degree of its anti-LGBT stances. Decades feeding the hate machine. And I bet you anything that today they those people who said a thousand good morning to him are happy that he killed himself.

                  The final unavoidable conclusion of Christianity is to kill its own.

  • Nougat@kbin.social
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    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.

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        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.

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          even though it does not appear he had taken any public positions against LGBTQ issues that could be construed as hypocritical.‘’

          Being GOP and anywhere on the LGBTQIA spectrum is inherently hypocritical.

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        'Ol Bubba knew the wolves would turn on him.

        But anyway, what is with this. Is it that this secretive cross-dressing thing seems correlated with repressed sexual desires or what?

        JCS covered that one Canadian colonel serial killer who would cross-dress, sneaking into women’s homes.

        Then I just watched this 48 Hours case about a dad who killed his son after they found pictures of him cross-dressing and literally eating his own shit.

        Wtf?

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          People tend to sexualize the taboo. In a society where gender is seen as set in stone and comes with a bunch of stupid bullshit like what clothes it’s socially acceptable to wear some people will sexualize violating the taboos

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            Hate is a strong emotion. Hatefucking is a real thing. I’m sure Pornhub has data showing an increase of searches for Middle Eastern people after 9/11.

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          Alright, not gonna lie that last one threw me for a loop.

          Pretty sure it was the last part that caused him to do that, I think the gap between crossdressing and scatophagy (is that a word yet?) is pretty far.

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      You’d think some empathy would be in order. However, judging from the comments made on the bird website, many people are actually proud of this happening.

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      This is tragic but I feel like shaking the people trying to shame or guilt the ones who outed and ridiculed the Mayor.

      “Are you happy now?”

      Yes, of course they are. The cruelty is the point.

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      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.

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            It’s basically the same as how Drag Queens aren’t trans. They aren’t fully conforming to the idea of being a ‘woman’, just the fashion and expression of it. Many prominent drag figures use she/her pronouns while in drag but immediately switch back to he/him when out of drag.

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                I’ve known a lot of people who really get into cross dressing but would never consider themselves trans.

                I never really got into a serious conversation about it, but I always took it like when you get into a video game. It’s just a lot of fun pretend to be them for awhile while knowing that in reality it’s fiction.

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            Here are the Google definitions

            Transgender - denoting or relating to a person whose gender identity does not correspond with the sex registered for them at birth.

            Transvestite - a person who dresses in clothes primarily associated with the other sex (typically used of a man).

          • 🐍🩶🐢@lemmy.world
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            Crossdressing and/or drag is you like to be outwardly a woman/other gender. Trans is you ARE a woman. Full stop. Your meat suit just happens to not agree with it, thus the term gender dysphoria.

            Note: I do not speak for a trans people. Nothing is black and white. This is just how I understand it best and figured it got the point across.

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              FYI, I am looking to learn and not state anything as fact here. I am just going to explain my current understanding and if it is incorrect, please correct me.

              I think gender dysphoria just describes any feelings of distress and anxiety caused by suppressing the feelings of actual gender identity. The disconnect between mind and body may not always be traumatic.

              So, if a trans woman has fully embraced being a woman in all aspects of life with no second thoughts, gender dysphoria may not be an issue.

              However, if a trans woman feels socially pressured to maintain the lifestyle of a man, that could be a source of stress, anxiety and initial confusion.

              There are probably millions of nuanced scenerios that do, or, do not result in gender dysphoria. However, it has been my experience that most people who are anti-trans use gender dysphoria as a generalized blanket term. (Obviously, that doesn’t mean that anyone who used the term is anti-trans, but just covering that base regardless.)

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              Trans is you ARE a woman.

              You think you are.

              You where born in the wrong body but the technology isn’t there yet to change that fact. That’s why it’s still called Transgender. if you could just switch Cis bodies I’m not sure anyone wouldn’t try it out.

              I’m with famous cross dresser Barry Humphries in considering gender affirming surgery self mutilation, but at the end of the day it’s none of my or anyone else’s fucking business what someone does with their own meat suit.

          • tjhart85@kbin.social
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            By no means am I an expert, especially on the intricacies of being trans and I don’t want to cis-splain their experiences, but I do know that cross dressing has an overlap of necessity with them, but it’s a ven-diagram/intersection rather than a circle.

            People who are trans typically explain it as having always felt like they’ve always been in the wrong gendered-body. Wearing clothes that correspond to the gender they feel they are
            (also, keep in mind MRI’s have shown brain activity that more closely matches the gender they feel they are than the gender they were born with, as well) is way for them to try and reconcile the way they feel with the way they were born. It’s usually an early stage in socially transitioning, whether they later choose to chemically/medically transition or not (and keep in mind, this is not always the end goal for people … simply being acknowledged as the way they see themselves is enough for some people and they shouldn’t be afraid to be in public because of that!).

            People who cross dress on the other hand may be doing it because they’re trans and feeling out the early stages OR … just because. It could be the way a textile feels, it could be sexual, it could be non-sexual, it could be because they just like it, it could be because … you see where I’m going with this? There are as many reasons that people cross dress as there t-shirt designs (I may be exaggerating a bit with that one, but you get my meaning, I think).

            I know NOFX is problematic, but I feel like “I’m a Transvest‐Lite” explains it decently (for one particular person anyways!):

            I’m not transgender, I’m a lazy crossdresser
            Who thinks makeup is too much of an ordeal
            I paint my toes and wear shiny tight clothes
            Not for the look, but how it makes me feel
            I don’t need things just right, I’m a tranvest-lite
            I only shave to do the Time Warp midnight Saturday
            I’m done with self-pity, I don’t have to feel shitty
            'Cause I wanna look pretty, so I give it the old city College try
            Don’t get me wrong, I still wanna be a guy
            Who sometimes likes to dress like a girl
            (He sometimes likes to wear diamonds and pearls)
            Don’t think I don’t know I’m not fooling anyone
            (He’s a cross between Adele and Charlie Chaplin)
            You gotta know it’s not just girls who just wanna have fun!

            Also, the beginning of the song is about the shame felt early on about it and is generally about getting the courage to not give a flying fuck about what people think.

            Hopefully I did a decent enough explanation without trampling on anyones lived experiences. The simple truth is that both groups of people have completely individualized experiences and it’s a different journey for every single person.

      • Flax@feddit.uk
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        The trump meeting was because his town was badly hit in a natural disaster, not necessarily something that he would have sought kut

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      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

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

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              You’ve got me. I don’t understand why any trans person would be a Republican, but I guess money trumps all when you’re rich.

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                Because they (wrongly) believe that being “one of the good ones” will save them from being targeted by republicans and their proposed legislation like Project 2025

                That doesn’t mean people who have previously voted red are in the wrong (lots of internalized homophobia can lead to opposite beliefs). But once you realize your identity and continue to vote against yours and other people’s human rights, you’re absolutely in the wrong.

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            Pretty sure there were slaves that actively sought to maintain slavery. In some cases, they had relatively decent lives compared to other slaves and even some free black people.

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          I would imagine that becoming mayor in certain parts of the country is much easier if you’re a member of the dominant party in the region.

          • SheeEttin@lemmy.world
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            Or existing in society at all. Sometimes in those parts of the country the first question upon meeting someone is “what church do you go to”.

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          You can disagree with your party on one issue. There are tons of Democrats who are opposed to increased gun control, for example.

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            But it’s not just “an issue”. We are talking about a demographic and their legal recognition. No I’m sorry but we cannot agree to disagree on something so fundamental as equal treatment of people.

            It’s not comparable gun control.

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              I’m talking about whether people are physically capable of breaking with their party on a single issue. They obviously are.

              Gallup poll

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            Good luck trying to get the terminally online to understand the nuances and complexities of the human condition

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

      It’s a feature, not a bug.

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      He was a Republican so yes he voted repeatedly to hurt LGBTQ people AS LONG AS IT WASNT HIM

    • TheFriar@lemm.ee
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      If you read the article, it said, about halfway through, that he never spoke up on LGBTQ issues despite being a Republican.

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      It says he hasn’t posted or supported anything publicly so he wasn’t a hypocrite, he belonged to the wrong party though, I do feel bad for his family because he doesn’t seem to be a right wing asshole

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    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

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      You posted the same article multiple times in this thread. I don’t know that magazine but Wikipedia says about the source

      1819 News is an American far-right[1] news website that focuses on the state of Alabama.

      Aren’t there more trustworthy articles than a far right news site?

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        Yeah, it’s a right wing propaganda rag. I wouldn’t trust them reporting the weather without somehow blaming liberals and lgbtq.

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      The OP buried the lede intentionally or unintentionally. Dude was a grade A creeper and a psycho.

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        You clearly did not look hard enough in this thread. Plenty of people say he got what he deserved for being a republican.

        He was definitely terrible and I’m not trying to defend him, but What’s your horse in this race?

        I have no horse in this race. Just discussing a piece of news on a discussion forum.

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      You probably shouldn’t read Steven King with that logic. Fiction is fiction. Unless you want to punish for a thoughtcrime.

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        because he holds public office and is posting pictures of children to porn sites and stalking local women? Do you not think public officials should have their disgusting misdeeds documented?

    • te_st_user@lemm.ee
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      The Left:

      1. Slurs are bad
      2. Transphobia is bad
      3. Ableism is bad
      4. Restorative justice is better than retributive justice
      5. Move people left
      6. Disregard points 1-5
  • peopleproblems@lemmy.world
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    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.

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      Well, the fact that he was gay is perhaps a sidenote to the internal power struggle in the nazi Party, and the struggle between the SA and the SS. Hitler stayed in power by playing the people beneath him against each other, and Himmler was particularly ruthless in this regard to the very end of WW2.

      Did not help Röhm that he was gay tho’

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        this wouldn’t be the first comment thread to speculate about the gayness of Nazis and Hitler, but i’m here for it

      • I can’t speak to Copeland’s character, but regardless, I think you misunderstood what OP was saying. There was zero attack on Copeland. They were drawing a parallel between Hitler’s peeps being homophobic to the point that they executed a close ally for being gay so as not to ruin Hitler’s image, and the Republican party outing this man for cross dressing, which led to his suicide.

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    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
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      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.

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        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.

        • unoriginalsin@lemmy.world
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          I think there is a good argument to be made

          I’m sorry, but I must vehemently disagree. There is absolutely no reason to discuss publicly someone’s private sexual preferences. Otherwise, you have the society they want where witch-hunts can be started over rumors.

          there is also a trend of labeling any homophobic politician as being in the closet

          That is also bad, and should not be tolerated.

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            If I’m being oppressed I would like to know if the thing I’m being opposed for is something my oppressor practices. That is called injustice.

            • unoriginalsin@lemmy.world
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              It’s called none of your business. You can’t expect someone to adhere to a standard you refuse to recognize. It’s classic, “Rules for thee…”

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                Excuse me? Are you for, “rules for thee but not for me”? I cannot decipher your actual stance.

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                  I cannot decipher your actual stance.

                  I can’t fathom why, when I’ve stated it multiple times in the clearest possibly English.

                  Don’t out anyone. No exceptions.

                  If you make exceptions then it’s you who is creating “rules for thee…”

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        nah, if you’re an elected political official with power over other peoples lives, and you’re a bigot, it’s open fuckin season, and i’d recommend outting every single last goddamned one of them

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            All Republicans are hypocritical bigots, by definition. It’s the core of their political party, it’s who they signed up to be identified with, it’s who they are, or in the case of this poor bigoted fuck, were. I don’t want to see any “but this was a nice republican” bullshit. After the Southern Strategy in 1964, all Republicans are trash, every single one.

            Institutionalized racism, misogyny, homophobia, and white Christian separatism as party platform. No matter how “conservative” Republicans claimed to be, The Southern Strategy was the core value and singular driving force for the past 60 years. MAGA isn’t a symptom, it’s result.

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              Maybe the politicians, I could agree with that, but most Republican voters are not on board with the southern strategy and all of this other stuff.

              All the majority know is that they hate Democrats, and that is why they vote the way they do. Human beings are creatures of habit after all.

              Besides, even if a group of people are doing bad things en masse, it’s ultimately counterproductive to lump the followers in with the leaders. It makes it harder for the followers to break from the leaders that are leading them down the wrong path.

              I am anti-republican politics, and I don’t get along with Republican voters, but I’m not going to call the guy at the gas station evil because he votes Republican because his dad voted Republican because his dad voted Republican.

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                They aren’t evil, doesn’t stop them being ignorant, stupid, wrong, and detrimental to society. Ebola isn’t evil, but it’ll fuck up your life if you don’t kill it first.

                Republican voters are cancer, they might not want to kill you, but they will.

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                Maybe the politicians, I could agree with that, but most Republican voters are not on board with the southern strategy and all of this other stuff.

                It’s certainly a not big enough deal for them to leave.

                I’m not going to call the guy at the gas station evil because he votes Republican because his dad voted Republican because his dad voted Republican.

                I am.

                If they’re voting to for and supporting the party that does evil stuff, it really doesn’t matter the reason they do it for.

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                I didn’t vote for the Nazis to kill the Jews, I just wanted my taxes lowered :(

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          Out the ones that could be a part of the ones who could effect change so they can be ousted and replaced by another run-of-the-mill Republican demon. Smart. Real big-brained move.

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        Mmmmmmmm… No, you know what? fuck that. You don’t get to be a bigot and then expect privacy in your own life. Response to even if one is a bigot

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            This is classic conservative rules for thee bullshit.

            This is anti-conservatives sinking to the level of conservative rules for thee bullshit.

            You’re literally saying “it’s ok to be queer, unless…” Either it’s ok, it it’s not. Spoiler alert, it’s fucking ok.

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              Yes I’m saying it’s ok to be queer and not ok to be intolerant. What the fuck is wrong with your reading comprehension?

              No one is saying that it is ok that he was outed. They’re saying he was making rules as a Republican official that bound LGBTQ people and the instant those rules would apply to him he killed himself…

              Rules for thee but not me.

              Do u get it now, junior?

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                No one is saying that it is ok that he was outed.

                Plenty of people are saying exactly that. Are you reading a different thread?

                Do u get it now, junior?

                Go back to Reddit, you muppet.

                • Dkarma@lemmy.world
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                  Uk u lost when you resort to “go back to reddit” followed by an ad hominem.

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          You don’t get to be a bigot and then expect privacy in your own life.

          You have it exactly backwards though. You don’t get to expect privacy in your own life if you refuse to respect the privacy of others.

          Also, why would you fight bigotry by demeaning the very thing they oppose with their bigotry? You’re only adding fuel to the fire.

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        Imagine outing someone as straight. Essentially it’s a weird attempt to enforce a degree of group think

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      That’s the biggest problem with religion and hypocrisy. You’re all right being against everything that doesn’t concern you personally but as soon as it does suddenly it’s a problem.

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

      Because every issue has exactly two sides nowadays. And this guy uses twitter, so he should have noticed that by now.

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        That quote is ignoring the fact that it was his fellow conservatives who went after him to destroy his life. It is his fellow conservatives – the ones he chose to stand among and support – that enjoy this outcome.

        You cannot be surprised when bullies bully. And the people who hang out with bullies because it benefits them to do so? They are also bullies.

        And unfortunately, I think that’s exactly why you’re wrong. The issue isn’t partisanship. The issue is bigotry. These people outed him because they hate and want to destroy LGBT people. There’s no shades of grey here. There is no moderate position. This story happened even with no one from the opposite partisan position being involved.

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    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.

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

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      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.

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

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      I was thinking “Maybe he was more moderate or even liberal, but just knew there’s no getting elected without an ® in small town Alabama politics, and so ran as a Republican anyway.” The inverse happens in our town - we’re so blue, we occasionally get conservatives running as Democrats just to have a shot.

      But then he ran for re-election in 2020 and used publicity of him and Trump together to get re-elected, which is farther than any actual moderate would go. So he’s either a massive hypocrite to the LGBT community or a massive hypocrite to the Conservative community, but either way, wasn’t super bright if he was posting all this publicly to Reddit as an elected figure. Shame he felt the need to shoot himself. Could have just moved to a blue state.

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    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.

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    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.