Jillian Mercado on ‘Generation Q’ and the Importance of Joyful Stories

Her role on Showtime’s “L Word” reboot offers a rare depiction of intimacy among disabled people. “There’s not one specific way to be queer,” she said.

This interview contains minor spoilers for Episode 9 of Season 2 of “The L Word: Generation Q.”

In its five years on air, “The L Word” brought lesbian romances, drama and many, many sex scenes to the small screen. (One hundred eleven, to be exact, but who’s counting?)

But Jillian Mercado — the 34-year-old actress and model who plays Maribel in the show’s reboot, “Generation Q” — never thought she would be in one of those sex scenes. Growing up with muscular dystrophy, she rarely saw physically disabled actors on TV at all.