But people aren't looking for that kind of connection anymore. Just look at Garland's own daughter, Liza Minnelli. She's back on Broadway, but it's her chorus of six beefcake behemoths that are drawing the stares. And while '80s Madonna videos still induce gushes of respect, many gays say that when these women pass on, there will be no universal cry of gay grief. In fact, no one under 40 has managed to unify the fantasies of America's vast gay population.
People are still absolutely worshipful.
Yet for a growing mass of gay men, divadom's descent heralds progress. Men need no longer identify with flawed women who, for all their talents, remain psychologically suspect, Clum says. Divas got their start at a different time in gay culture, and no one is going to create that kind of excitement again. It's not for a lack of contenders. Divas must be anti-establishment figures who overcome the limits of mainstream taste, either through style, strength of character or sheer energetic talent, says Michelangelo Signorile, a columnist for the Advocate, a national gay and lesbian magazine.