So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All

In the early 2000s, Kate Moennig and Leisha Hailey―both young artists trying to figure it all out―met at auditions for an unknown little TV show. Given that it was a show about lesbians living in Los Angeles, with the first ever ensemble cast of openly queer female characters, Kate and Leisha knew the project was going to be unlike anything else out there―that is, if it even got picked up.Then, one million people watched the premiere. The show, which came to be called The L Word, turned into a trailblazing phenomenon. Its influence on pop culture, in the political arena, and in the lives of viewers has been lasting, impactful, even life-saving. And in addition to changing the course of television history, The L Word changed Kate and Leisha's lives forever. Suddenly, they were the faces of lesbian culture in a society still hostile to queerness. And one of them wasn't even out yet.Luckily, they had each other. From their first day on set, Kate and Leisha were so inseparable that the cas