Jordan Chopra

Connect What inspired your most recent tattoo?

My right arm tattoos honor masculinity and my Indian father; my left arm honors femininity and my white mother. On a recent trip to India with 10 friends, I got a Vajra tattoo on my right arm which is a ritual object found in the Himalayas where my family is from and which symbolizes unstoppable force and unbreakable structure. It dangles from a rudraksha bead chain with 10 beads swapped for precious gems to represent the 10 friends who came with me to my motherland

If your ink could speak, what would it say?

All my tattoos tell a part of my life story from the loss of my mother to the sacrifices my father made to provide me a good life. My tattoos would likely say "here is a work in progress; an ever-evolving exploration and expansion of ones masculinity & femininity, timestamped by ink scars which symbolize the core values that make up this person: passion, loss, creation, hard work & community. Take the abstract symbolism of these scars and glean insight into the meaning of life!

What would you do with the $25,000?

Two things: a full chest tattoo to balance the back piece I’d request upon winning (take my whole back daddy) and funding for “Bootswick” my massive DIY backyard party series blending my passions for music, queer culture, and activism for queer/trans/POC groups. With DJs, drag queens, trans performers and unhinged theatrics like body dummies on ziplines across the party for Halloween, they’re free to attend but expensive to pull off — and my community needs MORE