Kate Moennig stole our hearts more than a decade ago as Shane, the ultimate bad girl on The L Word. Now the lesbian icon is coming back to TV playing a lesbian gender studies professor named Paige Hewson on Freeform’s Grown-ish. Paige’s character is described as “openly lesbian, uber-feminist, confident, yet still self-effacing.”
Grown-ish lead character Zoey and her friends sign up for Paige’s class, which is poised to have a big impact on the show’s bisexual character, Nomi, who is not out to her parents. Freeform is no stranger to shows with LGBTQ characters. The network is also home to The Bold Type and Good Trouble, both of which feature queer characters.
The guest slot on Grown-ish seems like a natural fit for Moennig, who has been steadily working since her time on The L Word. Since the demise of The L Word, Moennig has worked on various shows and movies, including Three Rivers, The Lincoln Lawyer, and Everybody’s Fine. She currently plays a lesbian assistant named Lena on Showtime’s Ray Donovan, which has been running since 2013. Despite her name acting credits, Moennig is still best known for the drama and intrigue she brought to the character of Shane on The L Word, whose tight jeans made an entire generation of young women question their sexuality.
It seems natural that after playing a young tough lesbian, Moennig will now play an older, mentor-type figure in the queer community on Grown-ish. After all, the character of Shane was a touchpoint to the lesbian community during The L Word era. Now an entirely new generation will be introduced to Moennig and the important role she plays in queer pop culture. And the rest of us can only hope that this will be just the first we see of Moennig, pending The L Word reboot that is said to be in the works at Showtime.
