It's Judy Garland's birthday, and friends of Dorothy all over the world will be celebrating ... but is her hold as the ultimate gay icon fading?

Ask a gay man (especially a younger gay man) who the biggest gay icon is, and you'll invariably get lots of Cher, Madonna, Barbra, and Bette, but less and less frequently will you hear "Judy" (you may actually hear her daughter Liza Minelli more).

Her credentials as a gay icon are unassailable. She starred in The Wizard of Oz (and volumes of books have been written about its gay icon status), her father was gay, a couple of her husbands were gay ... and then there was her talent. When she sang, she projected vulnerability and loneliness, combined with an inner strength that spoke to gay men like no one ever had (or has since). Her tumultuous private life (filled with the highs and lows of drug addiction and SRO performances) had more drama than any Hollywood tearjearker, and there's the amazing coincidence of her funeral, which was held in Manhattan on June 27, 1969, literally hours before the Stonewall Rebellion.

So why is there a certain hesitation, even sometimes embarrassment, when it comes to Judy? On his feelings toward Judy, filmmaker John Waters once said:

"I mean, I do love her, but if a reporter were coming to my home, I wouldn't have Judy Garland playing. They'd think maybe upstairs I had a room devoted to her. A gay man loving Judy could almost be like a black person watching a minstrel show."

Those are harsh words, but they probably speak for a lot of gay men who would rather not dwell on the past. What do you think about Judy's legacy?

For two nights last June, Rufus Wainwright performed in New York City to sold-out crowds, recreating Judy Garland’s iconic 1961 concert at Carnegie Hall. Critics showered the performance with praise, and seemingly every gay on the planet caught the show at least once. Luckily for the few of us who didn’t get to see the concert in person, it was released on CD and DVD on Tuesday, just in time for the holidays. I opted for the DVD, entitled Rufus! Rufus! Rufus! Does Judy! Judy! Judy!, over the CD recording, figuring it was the closer of the two in approximating the concert-going experience.

A couple things surprised me right off the bat. First, when I first picked up the DVD, I was mystified to note that the performance filmed was not at Carnegie Hall. Instead, we get one of the following wave of performances, when Rufus took the act on the road. This DVD captures the performance at the London Palladium theater. This isn’t a bad thing, just odd considering that Carnegie Hall is the venue that’s synonymous with the legendary Garland concert.

Second, I was shocked at how bad Rufus is at talking to the audience. The few sections where he stops singing and regales the audience with amusing anecdotes and stories are rather rambling. From interviews, I always had the impression that Wainwright was fairly well-spoken and loquacious, so it’s somewhat jarring to see him fumble his way through some of the stories. Of course, I’ve never seen a live Rufus performance before, so maybe that’s just his way.

But that’s a minor quibble; people came to hear him sing, not chat, and he does put on a fantastic show. At over two hours, the performance must have been exhausting and it’s obvious he’s giving it everything he’s got, stretching his voice to its limits.

(More on the DVD and a video clip of the show can be found after the break!)