Benjamin Law (writer)

Benjamin Law
Born	(1982-09-16) 16 September 1982 (age 38) Nambour, Queensland, Australia
Occupation	Author, journalist
Nationality	Australian
Period	2000s–present
Notable works	The Family Law, Gaysia
Relatives	Michelle Law (sister)
Website
benjamin-law.com

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]

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[]

• Law, Benjamin (2017). Moral Panic 101 - Equality, Acceptance and the Safe Schools Scandal. Quarterly Essay. 67. Black Inc. ISBN 9781863959513.
• Law, Benjamin (24 July 2019). Chinese-Australian history predates the first fleet – and my family helped me find out how. The Guardian

Interviews[]

• The women who shaped my life (August 2010). Cleo, pp. 100–102.
• Morris, Linda (21 December 2012). Benjamin Law. The Sydney Morning Herald, p. 6.
• Tabart, Sally (July 2019). A Day In The Life Of Benjamin Law, Writer. The Design Files.
• Tabart, Sally (April 2020). Times Like These... With Writer Ben Law. The Design Files.

As editor[]

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

Filmography[]

As Writer[]

Year	Title	Notes
2016-19	The Family Law	Creator/script writer (based on his memoir)
2017	Sisters	Episode 3

As Actor[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Freudian Slip	Jacob's Id	Web Series[21]

Other work[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2016	Deep Water: The Real Story	Researcher/associate producer	Documentary film
2018	Filthy Rich and Homeless	Himself/participant	Docuseries
2018–present	That Startup Show	Co-Host	Web series
2019	Waltzing the Dragon	Presenter	Two-part documentary

^[5]

Theatre[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2018	Nassim	Performer (24 Jan performance	[22]
2020	Double Delicious	Performer	For Sydney Festival[23]
2020	Torch the Place	Writer	For Melbourne Theatre Company[24]

Radio[]

Year	Title	Role	Notes
2019–present	Stop Everything	Host	Podcast for ABC Radio National
2019	Look at me	Host	Podcast for TheGuardian.com

References[]

External links[]

• Official website
• Austlit profile
• IMDb page
• Interview for No Filter
• The Kids are Alright speech for Victorian Equal Opportunity and Human Rights Commission
• Work for The Sydney Morning Herald
• Work for The Age