GERARDO VELÁZQUEZ wrote filth poetry. No taboo was off limits. As a self-described militant homosexual, he skewered societal norms through his transgressive sound art, performances, computer graphics, song lyrics, and poems. Velázquez was born in Mexico in 1958 and later immigrated with his family to Los Angeles. In 1978, he co-founded the infamous synthpunk band Nervous Gender alongside bandmates Michael Ochoa, Edward Stapleton, and Phranc. The band emerged from the early LA punk scene of the late 1970s wielding synthesizers in lieu of guitars. Their sound was raucous and confrontational, fondly described by punk fanzine Slash as “absolutely un-hummable.” They released one album, Music From Hell, in 1981. Velázquez would later publish zines with titles like “The Annals of Selective Annihilation” and “The Gay Death List” that used acidic satire to chronicle his experience as a gay man living with HIV. He died of AIDS-related complications in 1992.

The letterforms in the Gerardo Velázquez font are based on flyers designed by Velázquez in the late ‘70s and early ‘80s. Gaps in the alphabet were filled by emulating existing forms as needed. Thank you to Edward Stapleton for firsthand insight and to Kenneth Reveiz for archival support. This font was commissioned by Kunsthall Stavanger, Norway. It is the sixth font in A Queer Year of Love Letters.