"I'm like, I've been feeling like this type of way, but I never knew or was surrounded by it. So I hopped on Google and did my research. I [realized] there are other people that feel how I felt, but I just never knew the word for it," he tells PEOPLE. [...]
[Jordan's] first day on testosterone was in May 2018, when he was around 27. He was "happy" finally undergoing treatment, but one day, he was shot out of prejudice.
Jordan claims he was shot during a DJ gig shortly after beginning his transition. The incident started with the alleged shooter being "aggressive" toward Jordan about his new pronouns and ended with that same person shooting Jordan in the neck and back after Jordan attempted to defuse an "altercation" between the person with the gun and a minor. "They were like, 'We'll show you what it's like to be a man,' " he claims.
The gunman fled, and Jordan never heard from him again, but the violence made Jordan "scared." He tried to go about his life until one day he had a "mental breakdown," he says. He lost everything — his apartment, his jobs — and pawned his jewelry just to get his car back. He even considered ending his own life, but with resilience, he didn't let any of that, he says, "deter me from the finish line."
In March 2019, Jordan legally changed his name and gender marker, and after six months of hormone therapy and working through his trauma, he decided it was time for top surgery.
A part of masculinizing procedures, top surgery involves the removal of breast tissue to create a chest that's male-like in appearance. Jordan had this done that same year, two days short of his one-year anniversary on testosterone, and he recovered in his car for months without a place to permanently stay.
"I got a lot of scrutiny on the internet, especially where I live [people made comments like] 'I feel grossed out looking at you like this,' and I said, 'Well, this is the new me.' " [...]
One of the many things Jordan is open about regarding his transition is his sex life. He knew the reality of altering his genitals was a game of "Russian roulette," but he remembered thinking, "I'd rather look and present [as male] even if I can't feel at all." He explains that each time he's undergone a stage of bottom surgery, it'd take time for the nerves to regenerate and for Jordan to feel any sensation, which he says at first felt like hitting a funny bone. "It can get discouraging along the way."
Despite this and the adversity he first experienced, Jordan says his family — including his mom and sisters — and girlfriend have been nothing but supportive about his transition. "When I got the first stage [of his bottom surgery], my mom came to the hospital with a 'It's a Boy' balloon," he shares. "Now," adds Jordan, "I want to gain a little more weight, tone myself up, build my confidence and continue to share my story to help other people [understand the transgender community]."
