In 2009, gay marriage was still banned in California. In 2019, people state their personal pronouns in email signatures and Twitter bios. The ground has shifted, and at a time marked by gender-neutral bathrooms and historic highs of L.G.B.T.Q. representation on TV, the questions arise: Can “The L Word” still speak to the current moment? Can it still break ground?

Marja-Lewis Ryan, the showrunner for “Generation Q,” argued that the younger generation still needed characters to look up to and identify with — perhaps more than ever given the lack of dedicated spaces for gay and bisexual women.

“One of the things that ‘The L Word’ was originally, that I maintained, was aspirational,” said Ryan, who was a teenager when she first saw the original.

“That’s the joy of the show,” she added. “We’re riding that line between glam and reality. You should be able to see and feel moments that feel real, with just a little bit of magic.”

A Different Time

When “The L Word” debuted in January 2004, the series signaled a fundamental shift in lesbian representation. The clique of intelligent, attractive, wealthy and — perhaps most important — happy women countered tired stereotypes of the angry or suffering lesbian. The women openly dated, loved and broke up with other women. They cheated, had casual sex. They lived in immaculate homes, wore trendy outfits, led companies and maintained meaningful friendships. And they didn’t apologize.

“‘The L Word’ allowed for the portrayal of different, individuated experiences within a queer community, rather than freighting one or two token characters with the burden of representation,” said Candace Moore, a professor of gender studies and media at Carleton College. “Both the pleasures and the problems of ‘The L Word’ — that hot mess we came to serially crave and critically tear to shreds as it aired — came from the possibilities engendered by an ensemble cast show that not only represented lesbian community but constructed and affected it as well.”