My heart is troubled on the death of F.L. “Brittani” Copeland…
Last night, I did an All-Saints Free-Verse Poem at my church in dedication to my pastor father who passed away when I was 18. I’m in the south, but I am in a church that actually accepts me as a 46 year old trans woman. In fact, so does my wife, my children, my job, and most of my friends.
I took a moment of introspection before the audience, because I was also feeling really sad about the death of another pastor.
The tragic suicide of Alabama Baptist preacher and mayor, F.L. Copeland—who was a closet trans person who frequented our subreddit as “Brittani”.
When a conservative news site leaked images that she was trans, she believed that her life was over and no one would support her, so she shot and killed herself.
God help me, I know what it’s like to believe that transitioning in the south could lose you everything. Even though that was my fear before transitioning, on the other side, it turned out I do have a church that truly loves beyond convenience, a core family that accepts me, and a job that didn’t fire me—but this poor sibling didn’t feel that she could ever have any of these things!
May God grant you the body in heaven that you never felt you could walk in here in this world, sister!