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, and "Gaysia: Adventures in the Queer East", a journalistic exploration of LGBT life in Asia. Born in Nambour, Queensland, to immigrant parents from Hong Kong and Malaysia, he is currently based in Sydney. He is openly gay. 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 , 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). It won the Screen Producers Awards for Best Comedy (2016) and was nominated for two AACTA Awards. At the 2012 Sydney Writers' Festival, 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. In April 2018, Law became an ambassador for the National Library of Australia. As a journalist, he has contributed to publications including "Frankie", "The Australian Financial Review", "The Saturday Paper", "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", Fairfax Media's "Good Weekend" magazine, "The Big Issue" and "Crikey". 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"." The newspaper also highlighted Law's responding tweet to Rob Stott, ""[sighs heavily, unzips pants]"". The article highlighted that both tweets were posted during the Australian Marriage Law Postal Survey. 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. Filmography. Law's work includes: