Benjamin Law (writer)

Benjamin Law (born 16 September 1982) is an Australian author and journalist. He is best known for his books The Family Law, a family memoir published in 2010,[1] and Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East, a journalistic exploration of LGBT life in Asia.[2]

Benjamin Law
Born (1982-09-16) 16 September 1982
Nambour, Queensland, Australia
OccupationAuthor, journalist
NationalityAustralian
Period2000s–present
Notable worksThe Family Law, Gaysia
RelativesMichelle Law (sister)
Website
benjamin-law.com

Born in Nambour, Queensland[3] to immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Malaysia,[4] he is currently based in Sydney.[5] He is openly gay.[6][7] He was educated at Immanuel Lutheran College, Buderim on the Sunshine Coast.

Career

The Family Law was a shortlisted nominee for Book of the Year at the 2011 Australian Book Industry Awards,[1] and was adapted by Matchbox Pictures into a six-part television series for the SBS network in 2016, which Law created and co-wrote with Marieke Hardy (Series 1) and Kirsty Fisher and Lawrence Leung (Series 2).[8] It won the Screen Producers Awards for Best Comedy (2016)[9] and was nominated for two AACTA Awards.[10]

At the 2012 Sydney Writers' Festival,[11] he presented on the topic of bullying, for a panel with Wendy Harmer and Paul Capsis.

In November 2015, he advocated for gay people in a public discussion hosted by Mildura Pride (a Mildura Rural City Council Initiative). The social inclusion initiative focused on making Mildura more welcoming for LGBTIQ communities.[12]

In April 2018, Law became an ambassador for the National Library of Australia.[13]

As a journalist, he has contributed to publications including Frankie, The Australian Financial Review, The Saturday Paper,[14] The Monthly (including a 2014 supplement on the Museum of Old and New Art), The Courier-Mail and its Qweekend supplement, Griffith Review, New Matilda,[15] Fairfax Media's Good Weekend magazine, The Big Issue and Crikey.[1]

Controversy

On 12 September 2017, The Australian newspaper criticised Law's tweet of 30 August 2017, "Sometimes find myself wondering if I’d hate-fuck all the anti-gay MPs in parliament if it meant they got the homophobia out of their system".[16] The newspaper also highlighted Law's responding tweet to Rob Stott, "[sighs heavily, unzips pants]".[17] The article highlighted that both tweets were posted during the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey.[18][19] Law subsequently stated that Googling the term "hate-fucking" shows that it is "not a sexual assault", and that The Australian's report coincided with the release of Law's investigative Quarterly Essay which examined that newspaper's coverage of the Safe Schools program. Law later publicly thanked the newspaper for the free publicity.[20]

Bibliography

Books
  • The Family Law (2010, ISBN 9781863954785)
  • Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East (2012, ISBN 9781863955768)

Co-authored
  • Sh*t Asian mothers say, Collingwood, Vic. : Black Inc. (2014, ISBN 9781863956635)
  • Law School : sex and relationship advice from Benjamin Law and his mum Jenny Phang, Melbourne, Vic. Brow Books (2017, ISBN 9780994606853)

Contributed chapters
  • "Tourism", pp. 147–152, and "Towards manhood", pp. 195–203, in: Growing up Asian in Australia, Melbourne, Black Inc. (2008, ISBN 9781863951913)
  • In: Voracious: best new Australian food writing, edited by Paul McNally, Prahran, Vic. : Hardie Grant Books (2011, ISBN 9781742701202)
  • In: I'm not racist but ... forty years of the Racial Discrimination Act, by Tim Soutphommasane, Sydney, N.S.W. NewSouth Publishing (2015, ISBN 9781742242057)
  • In: The book that made me, edited by Judith Ridge, Newtown, NSW Walker Books Australia (2016, ISBN 9781922244888)
  • "Beijing", pp. [43]-49, in: Best Australian comedy writing, edited by Luke Ryan, Affirm Press, South Melbourne, Victoria (2016, ISBN 9781925475265)

Introductions
  • In: Me and Mr Booker, by Cory Taylor, Melbourne, Victoria : The Text Publishing Company (2017, ISBN 9781925498271)

Essays and reporting

Interviews

As editor
  • Growing Up Queer in Australia (2019, ISBN 9781760640866)

Filmography

As Writer
Year Title Notes
2016-19The Family LawCreator/script writer (based on his memoir)
2017SistersEpisode 3

As Actor
Year Title Role Notes
2018Freudian SlipJacob's IdWeb Series[21]

Other work[5]
Year Title Role Notes
2016Deep Water: The Real StoryResearcher/associate producerDocumentary film
2018Filthy Rich and HomelessHimself/participantDocuseries
2018–presentThat Startup ShowCo-HostWeb series
2019Waltzing the DragonPresenterTwo-part documentary

Theatre
Year Title Role Notes
2018NassimPerformer (24 Jan performance[22]
2020Double DeliciousPerformerFor Sydney Festival[23]
2020Torch the PlaceWriterFor Melbourne Theatre Company[24]

Radio
Year Title Role Notes
2019–presentStop EverythingHostPodcast for ABC Radio National
2019Look at meHostPodcast for TheGuardian.com

References
  1. "Law unto himself: The Family Law author Benjamin Law". Meld, 27 March 2012.
  2. Robert Dessaix, "Queer and Loathing". The Monthly, September 2012.
  3. Law, Benjamin. "Benjamin Law". Retrieved 24 April 2016.
  4. "Jenny Phang". The Wheeler Centre. Retrieved 4 February 2019.
  5. http://benjamin-law.com/
  6. "Over the rainbow". The Hindu, 20 December 2013.
  7. "Gay, lesbian or queer writing". The Book Show, 7 February 2011.
  8. "Benjamin Law Comedy in Production at Matchbox Pictures". Pedestrian Daily, 16 October 2013.
  9. http://tvtonight.com.au/2016/11/screen-producers-awards-2016-winners.html
  10. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 20 December 2016. Retrieved 3 October 2017.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. Harmer, Wendy & Law, Benjamin & Capsis, Paul (2012), Bully for you, ABC1, Sydney, N.S.W.
  12. "Benjamin Law visits Mildura to challenge homophobia". ABC News. 16 November 2015. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  13. Doherty, Megan (6 April 2018). "Kaz Cooke, Benjamin Law among National Library's 50th anniversary ambassadors". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
  14. "Benjamin Law" The Saturday Paper, 20 December 2014
  15. https://www.pedestrian.tv/news/benjamin-law-talks-dysfunctional-families-and-anthropomorphic-genitals/
  16. Law, Benjamin (30 August 2017). "Sometimes find myself wondering if I'd hate-fuck all the anti-gay MPs in parliament if it meant they got the homophobia out of their system". @mrbenjaminlaw. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  17. Law, Benjamin (30 August 2017). "[sighs heavily, unzips pants]". @mrbenjaminlaw. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  18. "Gay rights activist slammed for lewd tweets". Sky News. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  19. "Coalition MPs lash out at 'vile' tweet by same-sex marriage advocate". News Ltd. 11 September 2017. Retrieved 12 September 2017.
  20. Meade, Amanda (15 September 2017). "Benjamin Law thanks News Corp's 'unholy alliance' for free publicity". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 November 2017.
  21. https://www.frankie.com.au/item/7336-freudian-slip-web-series-premiere
  22. https://www.timeout.com/melbourne/theatre/nassim
  23. https://www.timeout.com/sydney/theatre/double-delicious
  24. https://www.broadsheet.com.au/melbourne/entertainment/article/benjamin-law-making-his-playwriting-debut-melbourne-theatre-company
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