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Although the U S Department of Defense’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy was in effect from 1994 until 2011, James Ijames invites audiences in the 2020s to consider the resonance of that very recent and deeply damaging policy through the character of Larry in Fat Ham. Across the arc of the play, audiences follow Larry from his presentation in uniform with an apparently heteronormative identity to witnessing the Marine express his love for and be outed by his best friend, Larry’s subsequent emotional and violent reaction, and finally Larry’s transformation in to a lip-syncing performer. This essay provides an overview of DADT and contemplates Larry’s story in relationship to lived experiences of queer service members before, during, and after DADT. This essay analyzes Ijames’s messages on masculinity and race, and examines Ijames portrayal of Larry’s metamorphosis from a quiet queer man of color to one who verbalizes his joy and love, an opportunity many service members never had. Finally, this essay ponders whether the realization of Larry’s dream to be a performer serves as Ijames’s offering of redress for the profound harm that DADT has caused queer Americans and as his insistence that audiences confront the policy’s legacy.

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“I wanted you to see me in my uniform”: Larry, Queerness, and Reflections of “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” in Fat Ham

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年

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  • H. Gelfand

摘要

Although the U S Department of Defense’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” (DADT) policy was in effect from 1994 until 2011, James Ijames invites audiences in the 2020s to consider the resonance of that very recent and deeply damaging policy through the character of Larry in Fat Ham. Across the arc of the play, audiences follow Larry from his presentation in uniform with an apparently heteronormative identity to witnessing the Marine express his love for and be outed by his best friend, Larry’s subsequent emotional and violent reaction, and finally Larry’s transformation in to a lip-syncing performer. This essay provides an overview of DADT and contemplates Larry’s story in relationship to lived experiences of queer service members before, during, and after DADT. This essay analyzes Ijames’s messages on masculinity and race, and examines Ijames portrayal of Larry’s metamorphosis from a quiet queer man of color to one who verbalizes his joy and love, an opportunity many service members never had. Finally, this essay ponders whether the realization of Larry’s dream to be a performer serves as Ijames’s offering of redress for the profound harm that DADT has caused queer Americans and as his insistence that audiences confront the policy’s legacy.