Teri Gender Bender

• Name — Teri Gender Bender • Birth Name — Teresa Suárez Cosío • Birthplace — Denver, Colorado, U.S. • Origin — Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico • Instrument — Vocals, guitar, keyboards • Genre — Punk rock, garage rock, electronic rock, garage punk • Occupation — Musician • Years Active — 2007–present • Associated Acts — Le Butcherettes, Omar Rodríguez-López, Bosnian Rainbows, Kimono Kult, Crystal Fairy, Melvins

Suárez was born in Denver, Colorado to a Mexican mother and a Spanish father, who worked as a prison steward. At age ten, she began to have recurring dreams of playing guitar, and was able to convince her father to buy her one. She lived in Denver for the first thirteen years of her life, until she moved to Mexico with her mother and two younger brothers after her father's death from a heart attack. Suárez and drummer Auryn Jolene founded Le Butcherettes at age 17 while still in school in Guadalajara. Jolene was later replaced by Normandi Heuxdaflo. The band incorporated graphic elements such as raw meat and bloody aprons into their stage performances and Suárez adopted the last name Gender Bender as feminist statements of the treatment of women in Mexico. Suárez met Omar Rodríguez-López at one of their local gigs. He was impressed by her performance when after a power outage had interrupted the show, she jumped into the crowd and continued singing into a megaphone. Rodríguez-López signed the band to his label, went on to produce their first album Sin Sin Sin in 2011, and also briefly served as the band's bassist. Suárez contributed lyrics and vocals to Rodríguez-López' Octopus Kool Aid in 2012, and starred in his unreleased film project Mi No Y Esperanza. Le Butcherettes' 2014 album Cry Is for the Flies was written about her experience moving from her family in Mexico to Los Angeles in 2012. In February 2016, she released a cover of Depeche Mode's "I Feel You", recorded together with Omar Rodríguez-López and With Lions, and made available via the latter's SoundCloud account.