Benjamin Oh on being Catholic, Asian and gay

Podcast
31 October 2017

'Throughout this process I don't know how many times I've broken down crying, together with my partner.' ChatterSquare catches up with Benjamin Oh as the marriage law postal survey in Australia closes.

Ben is co-chair of Equal Voices, a national LGBTI-affirming ecumenical organisation. In this episode, he talks about what it is like to be gay, Catholic and Asian-Australian. What are the things that have helped him deal with homophobia? How does his faith sit with his sexuality? What does he think about the institutional language around gays and lesbians, given strong Catholic support for same-sex marriage compared to other Christian churches?

Ben also talks about the ways in which his Chinese Malaysian family has embraced his partner, and grounds for hope.

Soundcloud | iTunes

Fatima Measham is a Eureka Street consulting editor. She co-hosts the ChatterSquare podcast, tweets as @foomeister and blogs on Medium.

Topic tags: Fatima Measham, Benjamin Oh, marriage equality

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ChatterSquare: Greg Foyster on conservative arguments for climate action

Podcast
24 July 2017

Climate change continues to be politically charged in Australia, even as other countries ramp up their renewable energy investments. It raises questions around salesmanship. Evidence and expertise seem to only be part of the argument for action – so how can we build momentum? Do conservatives in fact have a role? Greg Foyster walks us through the language and approaches that have fallen short, and the conservative arguments that could potentially lead to breakthroughs.

The things we miss about young offenders

Podcast
19 March 2018

Youth detention seems to only attract attention when there's a crisis. What are we not confronting when it comes to young people who run into the law? How do we advocate for them in a hostile political and media environment? We talk to former Victorian children's commissioner Bernie Geary.

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