My formula produces a dd-mmm-yyyy result which is correct.

Cell L55 formula results a 17-May-2006

Conditional formatting is set to: Formula is: =L55<=TODAY()

With background pattern set to red.

My problem is that the conditional formatting doesnt produce the results I
desire which is that if the date in L55 falls within the month and year that
the background will be red.

How do I get the conditional formatting to do this?