Trans Georgians tell their story while rallying for transgender awareness in Columbus

At a Colgay Pride rally held in Columbus Friday, two transgender attendees who faced difficulty with their gender identities growing up in religious households shared their stories of embracing how they felt.

The rally, held to honor “Trans Visibility Awareness weekend” ahead of Transgender Day of Visibility on Monday, featured both of the Georgia residents as prominent speakers.

Georgia has the fourth-largest population of transgender adults in the U.S., according to Georgia Unites Against Discrimination, a group focused on nondiscrimination protections in the state. Despite a high population of transgender residents, Grimmira Wilson and Victor Snakenberg say they’ve seen negatives locally to embracing their gender identities.

‘Every day has just been better’

Wilson is a trans woman who said she grew up in a religious home, which caused her to avoid thinking about gender identity.

“I grew up in a fundamental Baptist home for a long time and, you know, talks of like gay and trans stuff like that, I kind of grew up any time I had brief thought, trying to squash it cause, you know, I didn’t want to burn for eternity,” Wilson said.

Wilson said she left home after turning 18 and served a couple of years in the Navy. She said she met her wife in college.

Wilson said she spent the next few years struggling with her gender identity. Then on March 21, 2022, she came out as a trans woman to her wife.

Wilson said it was difficult at first, but her wife came to support her after finding a support group for spouses of trans people and having frequent conversations without judgment. And now Wilson gives her wife a lot of credit for helping her in her journey.

“I started dressing the way that I felt I needed to dress, walking around town, introduced myself the correct way, “ Wilson said.

But Wilson said she saw some negatives, which has largely revolved around people staring at her or taking issue with public bathroom use.

“Most of the negative side that I felt was just mostly people staring,” Wilson said. “Which, I mean, feels uncomfortable, but after a while, I started having fun with it.”

Wilson said she’s experienced people “feel uncomfortable” with her in public bathrooms. Wilson said she feels she’s had to create a database of gender neutral or single occupant bathrooms for her safety.

She still has seen positives, and ever since coming out, “every day has just been better and better than the last one.”

“Just knowing that this is who I am being able to live, who I am, going to my doctor and my therapist and then getting on the hormones and now every day when I look at myself in the mirror, I see less and less of the person that I was, and more and more of the person that I am,” Wilson said.

‘The more comfortable I am in my own skin’

Snakenberg is a trans man who also grew up going to church.

“I was always taught that like, hey, I’m a girl and that me being a girl, I’m supposed to be with a guy,” Snakenberg said.

But Snakenberg said he remembered always wanting to do activities with guys, especially playing football, though the boys didn’t always want him to play.

Snakenberg said he was always told he was “just a tomboy,” but that he was still a girl. Snakenberg said things started off with accepting his sexual preference of women and later pushing his gender.

He still had doubts about himself though, saying, “there’s still that lingering self hatred and like, oh no, that’s not me. That can’t be me because XYZ reason, completely ignoring the plethora of reasons that kind of overruled those.”

Doing drag helped Snakenberg realize he couldn’t deny himself anymore. Snakenberg said he stopped to pay for gas while in drag and the store tenant asked, “Hi sir, how can I help you?”

Snakenberg said it felt good, and he decided to start identifying as a man.

“The more people who saw me for what felt right, like the more comfortable I felt in my own skin,” Snakenberg said.

He said the last major step in embracing himself was coming out to his dad. Snakenberg said he and his father were standing out in the backyard talking when he told his dad he identified as a trans male.

His dad said, “I know.”

Snakenberg said the next thing his dad said would leave him in tears.

“He looked at me, he said, ‘I love you, my son.’ And that’s one of the happiest days of my life, was feeling that love and feeling that acceptance,” Snakenberg said.

One of the most difficult hurdles Snakenberg has faced lately is being able to get gender-affirming surgery. Snakenberg said his job requires a lot of physical labor that makes chest binders, often worn to flatten breasts, uncomfortable.

Snakenberg said changes in 2024 to his insurance added an explicit clause that doesn’t allow for the coverage of gender-affirming care.

“They don’t cover my medication anymore, and they don’t cover any surgeries,” Snakenberg said.

The surgery would cost about $11,000, Snakenberg said.

Snakenberg said one of his happiest moments during his journey has been looking in the mirror and finally recognizing himself.

“I actually recognized myself. Before, it was always looking in the mirror and it’s like, who is that? And it was always, ‘that person looks miserable,’” Snakenberg said. “But then that time when I just looked up, like I froze and I was like, ‘that’s me.’ And I looked happy,” he said.

Snakenberg told the Ledger-Enquirer he was born and raised in Columbus. He said one of his biggest fears has been wondering where he’s safe.

“Not just will these people accept me, but would they be willing to stand up if someone tried to attack me,” Snakenberg said.

He said he also fears repercussions for those who do accept him, saying “I don’t want people to get hurt just for associating with me.”

He said some fears started melting away during former President Joe Biden’s administration, and he said he saw less hatred.

“Now it’s just going right back to where there’s a spike in hatred and an increasing fear all over again of where am I safe to go and who will get hurt by being around me,” Snakenberg said.

This story was originally published March 31, 2025 at 10:28 AM.