Cuadros grew up in Montebello, California with parents from Northern California. He did not have a close relationship with his father. He attended Schurr High School, where he met photographer Laura Aguilar, with whom he remained close friends throughout his life. After high school, Gil Cuadros attended East Los Angeles Community College for one year before transferring to Pasadena City College. Cuadros worked at a photo lab where he met his lover, John Edward Milosch. In 1987, Milosch died and Cuadros was diagnosed with AIDS.[2][3][4]
Laura Aguilar encouraged Cuadros to attend Terry Wolverton's writing workshops for people with HIV at the Los Angeles Gay and Lesbian Center, which Cuadros did in 1988, igniting a passion for writing. Despite initially being told that he had six months to live, Cuadros lived for eight years after his diagnosis, stating that "writing literally saved my life or at least extended my life."[4]
Cuadros won the Brody Literature Fellowship, in 1991 and he was one of the first recipients of PEN Center USA/West grants to writers with HIV.[2][5] Cuadros’ only book, City of God was published in 1994.[2][3]
Cuadros died of AIDS at age 34, on August 29, 1996.[3] Joshua Guzman writes that Cuadros' literature made an impact on the history of AIDS by providing a testimonial that "explores the impact that AIDS has had on the gay Chicano community."[3][5][6]
