MEET
BRUNO DE LILLE
Brussellover, husband, dad, LGBTI+, doer, cyclist, education, comic book lover, femanist, radio, West-Flemish, Greeter, fitness, superhero movies, Coke zero …
BRUNO DE LILLE
I’m a doer …
“I have a great sense of justice and I’m a doer. So when I see things that are not as they should be, I want to roll up my sleeves and get to work. Moreover, I think that you have to tackle the abuses in a structured way. Whether it comes to matters like discrimination, traffic safety, air pollution or young people dropping out of school, you shouldn’t help people in exchange for a little gratitude. You have to improve the system so that people no longer have to beg for things they are actually entitled to.
This is why I became a student representative on the school council at a young age, was active in LGBT youth movements, became involved in Brussels politics (Agalev/Groen), and am now the head of a large group of schools and kindergartens.
I was fortunate to be able to put my expertise, creativity and drive into it every time, which allowed me to do my work with full enthusiasm.
This is my story …
“When I was 18, I came to study in Brussels. I eventually fell in love with the city and made it my home. But it wasn’t blind love – my love for Brussels had to grow. In the beginning everything seems attractive and exciting, and there was so much going on here. Especially for a student who comes from the ever-quiet Wevelgem, it seems as if the city is always in motion, as if there is always something to do, always a party somewhere.
But after a while I also came in contact with the less pleasant aspects of Brussels. I was attacked once, and I was also hit in the face – just like that, for no reason at all. I started to feel unsafe here and when I got the chance to finish my studies in Antwerp, I moved to Antwerp.
“The strange thing was that I quickly became homesick in Antwerp. But I wasn’t pining for West Flanders; I was pining for Brussels. Was it because Brussels is much more of a real city, bigger and more cosmopolitan as well? Or because in the end I had the feeling that I was more welcome there and that I could help build the city? In Brussels, you get the impression that everyone comes from elsewhere, which means that no one can claim the city. It doesn’t belong to anyone, so it belongs to everyone. Whatever be the reason, I returned to Brussels after completing my studies. Maybe it didn’t make much sense at the time, because I was working in Kortrijk and could have just gone back to live in Wevelgem.
But I had found my love. And because it wasn’t a coup de foudre but a conscious choice, I don’t get so discouraged anymore. There are difficult moments in any relationship but if instead of running away you fight together to overcome them, the relationship often becomes even more worthwhile. Well, that is the feeling I have now when I choose Brussels. Will it last? You never know. But I feel very much at home here.
Opinions & Encounters
Opinion pieces, columns or chats with committed citizens … find it all right here.
“Hilde Crevits wil dat Franse Gemeenschap Vlaamse kastanjes uit het vuur haalt!” (Knack.be)
‘De Vlaamse Gemeenschap heeft geen zin om nog meer in Brussel te investeren’, schrijft Bruno De Lille van Groen. ‘Ook al zijn er honderden kinderen die vandaag geen plaats meer vinden in een Nederlandstalige school waar ze wel graag naartoe willen.’
“Ik ben nog maar een jaar minister van onderwijs maar ik ben het een beetje beu dat we sowieso, op elk moment, en zonder dat we enig zicht hebben op de capaciteit die voorzien werd in het Franstalig onderwijs, dat we altijd moeten maken dat we voor iedereen plaats hebben.” Zo maakte Minister Crevits, op bezoek in de VGC-raad, zich boos. De minister moet zich echter niet boos maken, ze moet de handen uit de mouwen steken en snel voor extra scholen zorgen.
Straight Acting (Zizo-online.be)
“Hij zag er niet straight genoeg uit en dus heb ik de date maar afgeblazen. Ik had nochtans duidelijk gezegd dat ik alleen maar straight-acting mannen wou ontmoeten.” Ik zat op de bus en luisterde mee met het telefoongesprek van mijn buurman. Hij praatte luid (en het ging over seks) dus het was moeilijk om mij op mijn krant te concentreren. Ik stak er bovendien heel wat van op.
Wat is in vredesnaam straight acting? Is dat een homo die af en toe een vrouw vol op de mond kust? Of is het voldoende als je je wat meer ‘macho’ gedraagt? En waarom zou een man die duidelijk geen problemen heeft om met andere mannen in bed te duiken, zich zelfs tegenover die andere homo’s als hetero willen voordoen?
Brussel wil graag filekampioen blijven (Brussel Deze Week)
We zijn kampioen af! We staan niet meer bovenaan de filelijst, schrijft Groen-fractieleider in het Brussels Parlement Bruno De Lille. Brussel was sinds jaren wereldwijd de stad waar je het langste in de file stond volgens de befaamde Traffic Scorecard van Inrix. In 2014 nam Londen de leiding over, maar de Brusselse regering doet er volgens De Lille alles aan om die eerste plaats snel opnieuw te veroveren.
Vandaag begint de Week van de Mobiliteit. Een hele week lang moedigt het Gewest ons aan om met de fiets naar het werk te rijden, te voet boodschappen te doen en uitstapjes met het openbaar vervoer te plannen. Terecht, want de Brusselse mobiliteitsknoop is erg hardnekkig. …
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Biography
Bruno De Lille was born in 1973 in Kortrijk, West Flanders, but after spending time in Brussels as a student, he fell in love with the city and decided to live and work there.
Bruno started his professional life in the late ‘90s as an editor and later as a presenter/producer at Radio 2.
In 1998 he became a member of Agalev (later renamed as Groen). Two years later, thanks to the municipal elections of 8th October 2000, he became Brussels’ Deputy Mayor for Flemish Affairs, Equal Opportunities and International Solidarity.
After the municipal elections at the end of 2006, the Greens ceased to be a part of the Brussels City board. Bruno was re-elected in 2006 and 2012, and served as a municipal councillor until he handed over the torch at the end of March 2013.
Thanks to an intense campaign for the regional elections in June 2009 with Bruno De Lille as the leader of the list, Groen doubled its seats in the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region. Groen joined the Brussels government and the VGC-college and Bruno De Lille was nominated by the party as Secretary of State for Mobility, Public Service, Equal Opportunities & Administrative Simplification. As a board member of the Flemish Community Commission (VGC), Bruno De Lille took charge of Culture, Youth, Sports & Civil Service.
In the elections of May 2014, Groen increased its share of votes from 11% to almost 18% on the Dutch-speaking side. Once again, a new seat was added, as a result of which the party now had no less than 3 Members of Parliament in Brussels. However, the government was ultimately formed as a coalition of mainly losing parties, and Groen ended up in the opposition. As leader of the Green Group, Bruno De Lille gave the opposition an intense but constructive voice.
In October 2018, from the last place on the Ecolo-Green list, Bruno was again directly elected in the Brussels municipal council. Ecolo-Groen is now part of the local majority and enters the City Board.
With the elections of May 2019, Bruno De Lille has bid adieu to active politics as a list pusher for the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region.
Since 1 September 2020, he has been General Director of the non-profit association Sint Goedele Brussel, which at the time included 11 kindergartens, 17 primary schools, 4 secondary schools and an adult education centre.
This is my story …
“When I was 18, I came to study in Brussels. I eventually fell in love with the city and made it my home. But it wasn’t blind love – my love for Brussels had to grow. In the beginning everything seems attractive and exciting, and there was so much going on here. Especially for a student who comes from the ever-quiet Wevelgem, it seems as if the city is always in motion, as if there is always something to do, always a party somewhere.
But after a while I also came in contact with the less pleasant aspects of Brussels. I was attacked once, and I was also hit in the face – just like that, for no reason at all. I started to feel unsafe here and when I got the chance to finish my studies in Antwerp, I moved to Antwerp.
“The strange thing was that I quickly became homesick in Antwerp. But I wasn’t pining for West Flanders; I was pining for Brussels. Was it because Brussels is much more of a real city, bigger and more cosmopolitan as well? Or because in the end I had the feeling that I was more welcome there and that I could help build the city? In Brussels, you get the impression that everyone comes from elsewhere, which means that no one can claim the city. It doesn’t belong to anyone, so it belongs to everyone. Whatever be the reason, I returned to Brussels after completing my studies. Maybe it didn’t make much sense at the time, because I was working in Kortrijk and could have just gone back to live in Wevelgem.
But I had found my love. And because it wasn’t a coup de foudre but a conscious choice, I don’t get so discouraged anymore. There are difficult moments in any relationship but if instead of running away you fight together to overcome them, the relationship often becomes even more worthwhile. Well, that is the feeling I have now when I choose Brussels. Will it last? You never know. But I feel very much at home here.
A heart for Brussels …
I am the General Director of Sint Goedele Brussels, a non-profit organisation covering 11 kindergartens, 17 primary schools, 4 secondary schools and an adult education centre.
For the first 20 years of my career, I mainly helped shape Brussels as a City Councillor, Member of Parliament, Deputy Mayor and Secretary of State. I took up each of these roles with enthusiasm and energy. And no matter how difficult it was, I was always happy to do it – because in politics you have an impact and can potentially improve the lives of a lot of people.
But after 20 years of serving Brussels, it was time for me to pass the torch. And so I’m devoting my expertise, my creativity and my drive to that wonderful Brussels educational network.
In my spare time I am an active LGBTI+ activist. If you want me as a speaker or panel member, or if you just want to debate about Equal Opportunities / Rights for LGBTI+ persons, I will be happy to start the conversation.
Opinions & Encounters
Opinion pieces, columns or chats with committed citizens … find it all right here.
Mo Taleb: “Je ergens ‘thuis’ voelen is op een zekere manier een keuze”
In het centrum van Brussel vind je de LAVA, een gezellig café met een sympathieke cafébaas: Mo Taleb. Altijd glimlachend, altijd aan de praat ... En dus ging ik graag een glas drinken in de Arteveldestraat om eens een goed gesprek te hebben met de...
Ten Oorlog !?
We zijn in oorlog. Dat was mijn eerste idee toen ik vandaag De Morgen opensloeg. De helft van de Belgische moslims is blijkbaar een fundamentalist en staat dus klaar om een heilige strijd tegen het Westen te beginnen. Waar zijn die soldaten om ons te beschermen? Kan ik vandaag nog wel de metro nemen? Hadden al die roepers over de clash of civilizations dan toch gelijk? Wedden dat het dit is dat blijft hangen bij de meeste lezers? Wedden dat we in discussies en debatten nog jaren zullen horen dat we niet meer kunnen of mogen ontkennen dat de helft van de Belgische moslims extremistisch is want dat het zelfs in De Morgen (je weet wel, die linkse krant) gestaan heeft! (…)
Oude viezeriken
“Ik was seksueel actief, erg actief. En nu zou ik nog wel actief willen zijn, maar ze bellen niet meer.” Eén van de artiesten in de documentaire Gardenia zei het lachend maar toch met de nodige tristesse. Ouderen en seksualiteit. Er wordt vaak lacherig over gedaan. De beelden die je in films ziet of in liedjes hoort gaan over koppels die samen oud worden en dan op een bankje in het park gaan zitten mijmeren over hun leven. Zelden gaat het over opa’s en oma’s (laat staan over opa’s en opa’s) die durven flirten en verleiden. Bijna nooit gaat het over wilde, stomende seks tussen twee bejaarden. En als er over gesproken wordt, is het meestal negatief. Dirty old man. Ouwe viezeriken. …
Vieux dégueulasse
«J’étais sexuellement active, très active. Maintenant j’aimerais encore l’être, mais ils ne m’appellent plus.» Ce sont les mots de Vanessa Van Durme, une des artistes qui témoignent dans le documentaire «Gardenia»*. Elle prononce ces paroles en riant, mais la...
Biography
Bruno De Lille was born in 1973 in Kortrijk, West Flanders, but after spending time in Brussels as a student, he fell in love with the city and decided to live and work there.
Bruno started his professional life in the late ‘90s as an editor and later as a presenter/producer at Radio 2.
In 1998 he became a member of Agalev (later renamed as Groen). Two years later, thanks to the municipal elections of 8th October 2000, he became Brussels’ Deputy Mayor for Flemish Affairs, Equal Opportunities and International Solidarity.
After the municipal elections at the end of 2006, the Greens ceased to be a part of the Brussels City board. Bruno was re-elected in 2006 and 2012, and served as a municipal councillor until he handed over the torch at the end of March 2013.
Thanks to an intense campaign for the regional elections in June 2009 with Bruno De Lille as the leader of the list, Groen doubled its seats in the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region. Groen joined the Brussels government and the VGC-college and Bruno De Lille was nominated by the party as Secretary of State for Mobility, Public Service, Equal Opportunities & Administrative Simplification. As a board member of the Flemish Community Commission (VGC), Bruno De Lille took charge of Culture, Youth, Sports & Civil Service.
In the elections of May 2014, Groen increased its share of votes from 11% to almost 18% on the Dutch-speaking side. Once again, a new seat was added, as a result of which the party now had no less than 3 Members of Parliament in Brussels. However, the government was ultimately formed as a coalition of mainly losing parties, and Groen ended up in the opposition. As leader of the Green Group, Bruno De Lille gave the opposition an intense but constructive voice.
In October 2018, from the last place on the Ecolo-Green list, Bruno was again directly elected in the Brussels municipal council. Ecolo-Groen is now part of the local majority and enters the City Board.
With the elections of May 2019, Bruno De Lille has bid adieu to active politics as a list pusher for the Parliament of the Brussels-Capital Region.
Since 1 September 2020, he has been General Director of the non-profit association Sint Goedele Brussel, which at the time included 11 kindergartens, 17 primary schools, 4 secondary schools and an adult education centre.