No apology for Yes campaigner’s vile tweet

IF the No campaign joked about using sex as a weapon against the Yes side there would be an outcry, yet Benjamin Law won’t even apologise, writes Miranda Devine.

Author and commentator Benjamin Law. (Pic: Renee Nowytarger)

I BLOCKED Benjamin Law years ago, when he was a bottom-feeding blogger harassing me on Twitter.

And so of course it was no surprise to me when he was hired by Fairfax as a weekly columnist, feted at various writer’s festivals and finally washing up at the ABC.

But surely tolerating hate speech has its limits when it comes to inciting violent sex against same sex marriage opponents in parliament?

Because, for all his protestations that he was just joking, that’s exactly what his tweet was.

“Sometimes find myself wondering if I’d hate-f**k [he spelled it out] all the anti-gay MPs in parliament if it meant they got the homophobia out of their system.”

As if that weren’t bad enough he then cited West Australian Liberal MP Andrew Hastie as a specific target; responding to a comment suggesting, “start with Hastie”, he tweeted: “(sighs heavily, unzips pants)”.

Yet none of his employers have even distanced themselves from Law.

Incredibly, the prestigious Waverley girls’ school, St Catherine’s, even posted in support of Law on Facebook on Monday night: “The utterly charming Benjamin Law spoke at St Catherine’s during Book Week and entertained students staff and parents alike.”

The post was deleted yesterday but you have to wonder about the due diligence on children’s role models these days.

The ABC, likewise, rewarded Law by giving him an hour this week to promote a turgid Quarterly Essay.

And instead of taking the opportunity to apologise or retract his comments he doubled down on Hastie.

“Sure, the member for Canning has decent cheekbones, but he’s a little too clean-cut for my tastes.”

Law then tried to downplay his offence, saying “Hate f..king is a Gen Y term: consensual sex with someone disagreeable.”

A rally to support Safe Schools after NSW member Damien Tudehope tabled a petition with 17000 signatures against it. (Pic: Jane Dempster/The Australian)

The online Urban Dictionary defines the term in far more sinister terms as “an act of aggressive sex with someone as if they had no respect for that person as an equal human being … usually entails aggressive, sometimes violent, degrading and humiliating sexual acts perpetrated by an aggressive party on a submissive.”

How degraded our culture has become when such vulgar language is common currency among members of the media employed by once reputable institutions.

In any case, Law’s pretence that he was referring to a “consensual” act is laughable.

“Noting my skills acquired in my previous ­career I’d like to see him try,” said Hastie, a former SAS operative. “If anyone on the No campaign jokingly suggested using sex as a weapon against Yes campaigners, there’d be immediate calls for their resignation and marginalisation. Instead this guy gets a 20,000-word platform from Quarterly Essay.”

Yes, Law has written a Quarterly Essay demanding the Safe Schools program be instituted in every Australian school ... because he thinks it’s important to stamp out bullying. Oh, the irony.

Surely the taxpayer-funded ABC has a duty not to embolden an activist so unhinged and entitled he won’t even apologise.