Peter Nigel Edward Bruinvels (born 30 March 1950) is a governor of the

Church Commissioners The Church Commissioners is a body which administers the property assets of the Church of England. It was established in 1948 and combined the assets of Queen Anne's Bounty, a fund dating from 1704 for the relief of poor clergy, and of the Eccle ...

and former

Conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy that seeks to promote and to preserve traditional institutions, practices, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civilization i ...

MP.

Homophobia

As an MP in 1986, Bruinvels was opposed to equal rights for the LGBT community and was a strong supporter of

Section 28 Section 28 or Clause 28While going through Parliament, the amendment was constantly relabelled with a variety of clause numbers as other amendments were added to or deleted from the Bill, but by the final version of the Bill, which received R ...

saying: "I do not agree with homosexuality. I think that Clause 28 will help outlaw it and the rest will be done by

AIDS Human immunodeficiency virus infection and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) is a spectrum of conditions caused by infection with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a retrovirus. Following initial infection an individual m ...

, with a substantial number of homosexuals dying of AIDS. I think that's probably the best way." In 1997 as a member of the

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...

General Synod The General Synod is the title of the governing body of some church organizations. Anglican Communion The General Synod of the Church of England, which was established in 1970 replacing the Church Assembly (Church of England), Church Assembly, is t ...

, Bruinvels said he would be spearheading moves to stop the ordination of known homosexuals: "Bishops have a moral responsibility to safeguard marriage and family life and by ordaining known homosexuals, they are sending out the wrong signals." Bruinvels issued a statement in February 2022 apologizing for and repudiating his 1986 statements. Published in the Surrey County Council's staff newsletter, Bruinvels indicated how the years since 1986 had changed his attitude and perceptions, as well as noting actions he has taken recently which have been contra to his prior position: "I have had a lot of time to reflect on this especially as I have developed close friendships with a number of gay people as well as family members who have come out as gay and realise how wrong I was in making those comments then, some 36 years ago. I am now trying to publicly demonstrate that I have learned the lessons of my past discriminatory behaviour through the actions I have since taken, including recently supporting trans-gender and same-sex blessings in Church as well as voting to ban the practice of Conversion Therapy on General Synod."

Honours

In 2017, Bruinvels was awarded the

Canterbury Cross for Services to the Church of England The Lambeth Awards are awarded by the Archbishop of Canterbury. In addition to the Lambeth degrees, there are a number of non-academic awards. Before 2016, these awards consisted of the Lambeth Cross, the Canterbury Cross, and the Cross of St Augus ...

"for sustained and outstanding work in support of the Church of England".

References

External links

* 1950 births Conservative Party (UK) MPs for English constituencies Living people UK MPs 1983–1987 People educated at St John's School, Leatherhead People from Surrey Church Army people Church Estates Commissioners Members of the General Synod of the Church of England {{England-Conservative-UK-MP-1950s-stub