Talking, laughing, loving, breathing, and being best friends! The L Word stars Leisha Hailey and Kate Moennig are celebrating their decades-long friendship on the cover of The Advocate's July/August issue.
In the cover story, Hailey and Moennig discuss how they first met in the Showtime offices during the audition process for the role of Shane, which eventually went to Moennig. Since then, the two queer actors built an inseparable bond — a story that will be told in detail in their dual memoir, So Gay for You: Friendship, Found Family, and the Show That Started It All.
"[There was] something inside me that said, 'Oh, there's something here,'" Moennig said of meeting Hailey. "Of course, I didn't know at the time, obviously, what that was, but I knew it wasn’t just, 'Oh, this is a coworker.'"
Now, 20 years later, Moennig says of their relationship, "It's a marriage, honestly, and it's something that we constantly are working on."
Leisha Hailey, Kate MoennigMike Nelson for The Advocate/equalpride
One of the most critical moments in their friendship occurred when Moennig returned to shoot season 2 of The L Word after losing her father to cancer.
"I don't even know what got me through it," Moennig said, revealing that she didn't even realize how bad things were at the time. "It only takes five, six years to say, 'Actually, that was a real mess of a time.'"
"I had this one," Moennig added, gesturing to Hailey. "It was the best of times and the worst of times happening all at the same time."
The pair also said it's their platonic love that inspired them to write a book together.
"Leisha and I, we are our own selves, obviously…," Moennig said. "But really, Leisha's presence in my life really completes it. I don't know what the colors in my life would look like without her. And that platonic love is incredibly powerful. There's a shorthand that we have."
The full interview can be read in July/August 2025 issue of The Advocate.
