Brendan Jordan

Prominent influencer and model Brendan Jordan rose to fame when a video of him dancing to Lady Gaga in the background of a news clip went viral. Now with nearly half a million followers on Instagram and 259k more on YouTube, the young trailblazer proudly came out as identifying with the trans community and has become the face of LGBTQ youth in America thanks to partnerships with the Happy Hippie Foundation (pop star Miley Cyrus’ non-profit dedicated to helping young trans people), the NOH8 Campaign and American Apparel.

Back in October 2014, the Las Vegas native captured hearts around the world when a video of him dancing moves from Lady Gaga’s music video for the song applause in the background of a NewsChannel 8 live broadcast went viral. News of the “fierce little boy” spread quickly with the likes of Good Morning America, The Today Show, POPSUGAR and The Daily Mail all covering the viral moment featuring Jordan’s sassy dance moves, and even pop queen Lady Gaga herself tweeted that she loved him. Jordan quickly turned his 15 minutes of fame into stardom, amassing nearly a million followers across social media platforms and finding himself ambushed at VidCon for Photos.

In the aftermath of his viral video he caught the attention of American Apparel who recruited him to model for them after they admired the way used his platform to raise awareness for the LGBTQ community, and a photo shoot with megastar Miley Cyrus then followed organised by her Happy Hippy Foundation. Eight years on from his unexpected rise to fame, Jordan continues to provide an important voice for America’s LGBTQ youth.