#church too

[xianjaneway]

The Loss of Rev Mayor Bubba Copeland, Part 1

(Content note: we're going to address topics like suicide, child sex abuse, graphic descriptions of sex & abuse in fiction, fundamentalist & conservative hatred towards LGBTQIA people, & the Southern Baptist Convention's cover-up of child sexual assault within its leadership. This is a cry for justice, & it's not going to be pretty. If any of this is unhealthy for you to read about, please use the back button to save your sanity.)

Rev. F.L. "Bubba" Copeland died by suicide on Friday, after a low-speed chase with local Sheriff's deputies. Rev. Copeland had been targeted with five articles in three days by the site, "1819 News Dot Com," when his alter-ego was discovered. No one but his wife was aware of his private online life before the 1819 site exposed it.

Privately, Rev. Copeland posted on sites like Instagram, Reddit, & Fictionmania, as Brittani Blair Summerlin. She'd post on topics like size-inclusivity, fashion & budoir photos, hormonal transition, transgender rights issues, & yes, sex.

She also wrote fiction.

Let me be the first to say, it seems like Brittani did some really stupid things.

She apparently used the pics of *real* minors to make memes about a fantasy of transition & casual sex. I may be wrong, but it looks like they were about specific stories she'd written, & acted as a thumbnail or cover art for them.

I won't defend using real minors for that. It's wrong.

I will say, "Since the trash tabloid outed him, he took his accounts down, & there's no way to verify that Reb. Copeland actually made these memes."

I will say, "I wish she could have been in a healthy fanfic community, where someone could have pulled her aside & said, 'Don't do that. It's wrong. Here's some AI sites where you can generate whatever face fits your stories. Or, here's a fanfic artist, why don't you commission them to make you some original cover art for $25?'"

(Note, that's where my profile pic came from. If you'd like one, I'm happy to pass along the artist's contact info.)

I've only been a part of online fanfic communities for a couple of years, & I've seen writers do stupid things. I've seen the uproar of actors when they discover things like, "Real Person Fanfic (RPF)" exists. I've seen the discussions over when & how using real people in fanfiction is a problem--& this was about celebrities! It must be an entire other level of discomfort for private adult citizens to have their images & names put in fiction, & it's ABSOLUTELY WRONG to do it to children, who legally & morally cannot consent to public use of their photos.

It's wrong, but it's NOT A CRIME.

It's a crime to sexually abuse or exploit children, & take pictures, video, or audio of it. It's a crime to own or distribue that media. It's NOT a crime to take pictures that were already posted on the internet, & alter them for your own personal use.

Is it really weird? Absolutely.

Is it a crime? NO. It's not.

It's really important to understand the distinguishing factors here: Rev. Copeland did something wrong, but according to the pictures posted by 1819, it's easy to see that it was a mistake. It was not a crime, it was not sexually exploitative, & it was not illegal.

It's not a crime to write the kinds of stories Brittani wrote, even if they're disturbing. Yes, that includes if they use real people as characters. (It should be noted that the protagonist in the most disturbing of the stories was NOT real, & was neither Brittani nor Bubba.)

Even worse, if Bubba Copeland had been James Patterson, he would have been PAID for his work.

Just take a look at this excerpt from Patterson's bestseller, "Kiss The Girls."

Yep, James Patterson wrote a graphic sex scene where a serial killer uses a snake to enlarge the anus of a victim. Patterson has sold over 425 MILLION books, & I assure you, this isn't the only graphic description of rape & murder in them. The victims in this story were often college age women, only a couple of years above being minors themselves. I don't know if Patterson himself wrote graphic descriptions of violence against minors, but I'm ABSOLUTELY CERTAIN that plenty of famous thriller writers have.

Why does Patterson get to be a millionaire, but Rev. Copeland is viciously mocked, & driven to suicide?

What's worse, is that Southern Baptist leaders are typically quite willing to hide the sexual abuse of children, as we discovered yet again less than two weeks ago.

On October 25th, the twitter account @SBClitigation posted a link to an amicus brief, filed by the SBC lawyers this past spring, trying to limit legal liability for, "non-perpetrator third parties who were allegedly made aware of the abuse and violated common-law duties in responding to it."

In other words, the SBC leaders KNEW about sexual abuse happening to their members, by their members, or even by others in the leadership, & either did nothing, or actively discouraged the victims from pursuing justice. Yes, every link is an example.

You should read @SBClitigation's entire thread, to see how far SBC leadership is willing to go to cover their butts.

Why did those particular SBC leaders get protection, when Rev. Copeland did not?

Brittani harmed no one, abused no one, & told no one, except her wife. Yet, Bubba Copeland died by his own hand, while people like Paul Pressler & CJ Mahaney still have thriving careers.

****

I apologize, I worked longer than I thought I would today, & I'm exhausted. I will have to do a more detailed part 2 of this commentary later on. Let me end with this:

If you write, read, or love fanfiction, you should speak out against the vicious & inhumane treatment that Rev. Copeland received. Using real people's faces is a mistake that should have been caught & fixed by a fanfic site moderator. It should not result in someone's death.

If you care about the victims of sexual abuse, you should speak out against the vicious & inhumane treatment that Rev. Copeland received. People who write the types of fiction he wrote often have a history of being victimized.

If you care about gender nonconforming people of any type, you should speak out against the vicious & inhumane treatment that Rev. Copeland received. The people who harassed Brittani literally to her death *do not care* about the victims of child sexual assault. They've proven this again & again by their actions towards victims & perpetrators.

Brittani was a scapegoat, used to deflect accountability from their own inaction, & focus people on a collective boogeyman: a transgender woman on the internet.

[psalm40speakstome]

It’s almost at if they’re blaming us again for their abusive and unkind actions? 🤷🏼‍♀️ oh wait

[maybebecomingms]

watching the collapse

I’ve had SO MUCH I want to write about lately, and not enough time to do so. In the last 6ish weeks of my life:

-my ex-husband’s dog got very sick and was euthanized, and I was asked to be present -I moved to a new home... again -the megachurch I attended has been a major headline in the local news due to criminal investigations of sexual assaults within the main pastoral family, that have been covered up going back over 15 years

I was never a victim of direct sexual violence within my former church, but I have been pretty vocal about the whole thing on social media. The purity culture mindfuckery and the complete hypocrisy that has now come to light is worth talking about.

Today I was connected with a reporter from my home state’s largest newspaper to discuss the culture and beliefs of the church, along with its impact on me personally. I don’t know how much of my interview will be used, or if I’ll be approached with more questions later on. But it’s wild to think about. I was only on the phone for about 9 minutes answering questions and discussing my story, but I was surprised by how wiped out I felt after the fact. I left work early, came home, and took an hour-long nap.

And tonight I’ve been listening to contemporary christian music for hours, because apparently when I’m going through it I want to re-live ALL of the feels.

So, sing me a song about something good My heart’s on the threshing floor and I’ve done every single thing I could

I used to believe in some kind of feeling That could change everything I thought I knew But that door is closed and my heart feels like it’s frozen If you hear me, I can’t feel you

[welcometogrouchland]

♫ I do what I want/Crying in the bleachers and I said it was fun/I don't need anything from anyone ♫

(ID in Alt) you guys ever think about your own posts and get upset?? Anyway Damian Wayne I love you I'm so sorry your life is like that

[pomarrillo]

more fe3h goofs

[sparrow-the-tired-lesbian]

Men in music: I fuck a lot of girls. The girls all want me. I’m dominant.

Hozier: I AM VERY HORNY AND ALSO A BOTTOM NOW ALLOW ME TO SCREAM ABOUT THE WOMAN I WANT TO DO UNSPEAKABLE THINGS TO ME

[cry-ptidd]

Father Anderson

[dreamaruu]

Hello RvBGTBQ+ community

[uh-ohspaghettio]

So turns out you can make a lyric video to a hozier song using only supernatural fanfiction titles

I’ve lost my mind

[xianjaneway]

The Loss of Rev. Bubba Copeland, Part 2

(Content note: we're going to address topics like suicide, child sex abuse, graphic descriptions of sex & abuse in fiction, fundamentalist & conservative hatred towards LGBTQIA people, & the Southern Baptist Convention's cover-up of child sexual assault within its leadership. This is a cry for justice, & it's not going to be pretty. If any of this is unhealthy for you to read about, please use the back button to save your sanity.)

Conservative Christianity showed its face today, & it is dirty.

The response of the church to the passing of Rev. Copeland has been outrageous, confusing, and filled with both misinformation & bigotry.

I need the queer, trans, fanfic, dead dove, & any other affected community to see what's happening here:

They're saying his works of fiction are indications that he's a danger to the community.

They're saying that, because he wrote about a murder, using the name of a real woman, he must have secretly wanted to murder her.

I don't know how to explain to non-writers, "Fiction isn't reality. Copeland wasn't going to murder that woman, just like I'm NEVER going to be an military intelligence analyst in witness protection."

I wonder if they think reality TV is real.

Even worse, they're attacking those of us who brought stories of systemic child sexual abuse into the light, saying, "BUT WHAT ABOUT THIS GUY?? HOW CAN YOU DEFEND HIM?"

My friend @CoffeeYall said it best: "We will never ever deal with church abuse, when we view a queer adult man as having the same amount of evil, as a pastor who grooms and rapes underage girls."

The church fundamentally does not understand the difference between "sin," or violating their commandments, & "abuse," the act of harming another person, taking a person's agency away, controlling them, violating them, & destroying them. They view sin as a type of abuse against God, the church, & society, & seek to banish it.

They don't understand consent, which is why the fact that Rev. Copeland's wife had full knowledge & consent of their online life doesn't matter to them. When we became Evangelical, we were supposed to give ALL of our will & ambition & sense of self over to God.

They don't understand that people have a right to exist without their approval. They literally see themselves as a type of authority that should be on equal footing with the government.

Here's the laziest example of this type of thinking. It's an excerpt from James Dobson's book, "Marriage Under Fire," page one:

Does Dobson justify this claim in any way? Of course not. That would take work! Evangelicals like him just accept that their views should be taken as default. They don't understand that protecting the rights of people who disagree with them eventually protects their own rights as well.

You might ask, "Why then would Rev. Copeland stay in such an environment? He was only harming himself?"

Sadly, Rev. Copeland was 49 years old when he died. I turn 44 in a couple of weeks. I can tell you, as someone just five years younger than him, who also grew up in a rural community, that we didn't grow up with the internet, or strong technology literacy, or any diversity of media.

The only difference is, I was taken away when I was 16, & was exposed to a new world of ideas. If I'd stayed?

The most radical or diverse ideas I'd have seen would be at the solitary Catholic church in a 30 mile radius. Maybe I'd have been a crazy Apostolic or Methodist Lady Pastor!

People who discover truths about themselves late in life often face a very difficult choice:

Hide who you are for just a FEW more years, until you can comfortably retire.

Don't hide who you are, & lose everything you've spent the last 20-30 years building. Your community, your financial security, your dignity, & your life.

I know a pastor who successfully navigated 3 short years before retirement. I could tell when the topics & language of his sermons changed, that he was struggling. He's now living happily, about 2500 miles away.

I wish Rev. Copeland had been given that same chance.

[leonardalphachurch]

and for a moment, tucker thought, looking at him was like looking in a mirror. a really annoying mirror.

[psalm40speakstome]

Woman: “I just have to obey my husband even if I disagree.”

Me: “ Why? You’re his wife not a dog in obedience school”

Insert: picture of toxically patriarchal man with his wife beside him.

[diadotcom]

this is how the hard deck scene should have gone

[cannibalgirlfrnd]

hozier performing an acoustic set of from eden, dublin 2019. I get brought to tears every time I watch this.

(don’t ask me how to get the full footage bc idk 😭 the concert was professionally recorded because it was supposed to be televised but it never ended up happening. somehow some fans managed to 🏴‍☠️this specific part, I just screen-recorded it and have had it saved for 4yrs)

UPDATED : the full concert film is here !!!

[stilgar]

SUCCESSION | Roman + looking at Gerri (once per episode)

[polinsated]

They make such a charming couple, do they not?