Friends of Dorothy Society

The Friends of Dorothy Society (fods)

The Friends of Dorothy Society
Type	Bellringing Society
Founded	1991
Founder	John Paul Adams
Headquarters	UK based
Website	www.thefods.info

The Friends of Dorothy Society (commonly abbreviated "fods") is a bell ringing society for LGBT people and their friends. The society is based in the United Kingdom but has members throughout the world; particularly in the United States of America and Australia.

The Society takes its name from the euphemism Friend of Dorothy, meaning gay man.

History

The society started following a notice placed in The Ringing World (a weekly publication for bell ringers) in May 1991. The notice aimed to assemble a band to ring for the London Pride Festival that year.

A number of people responded to the notice and the bells of St. Martin in the Fields, Trafalgar Square were rung for that year’s parade.

Tours

The society holds a spring tour and an autumn tour each year. The first tour was to Bristol in October 1991. Since then, members of the society have toured many cities throughout the United Kingdom. The first international tour was held in May 2006 when members visited Washington DC.

The Society's Tours

Year	Date	Location
1991	11-13 Oct	Bath & Bristol
1992	28 Feb - 1 Mar	Manchester
1992	20-22 Nov	Brighton
1993	26-28 Feb	Nottingham
1994	25-27 Feb	London
1994	28-30 Oct	Newcastle
1995	27-29 Oct	Blackpool
1996	24 Feb	Basingstoke
1996	25-27 Oct	York
1997	21-23 Feb	Manchester
1997	25-26 Oct	Birmingham
1998	Oct	Gloucester
1999	Oct	Liverpool
2000	26 Feb	Petersfield
2000	27-29 Oct	Newcastle
2001	2-4 Mar	Cardiff
2001	19-21 Oct	Leeds
2002	9-11 Feb	Northern Ireland
2002	18-20 Oct	Birmingham
2003	7-9 Feb	Southampton
2003	17-19 Oct	York
2004	27-29 Feb	Shrewsbury
2004	15-17 Oct	Edinburgh
2004	19-20 Nov	Leicester
2005	4 - 6 Mar	Coventry
2005	21-23 Oct	Canterbury
2006	10-12 Feb	Nottingham
2006	25 May - 4 Jun	Washington DC, Philadelphia & New York
2006	20-22 Oct	Exeter
2007	23-25 Feb	Manchester
2007	26–28 May	Boston MA, USA
2007	28-30 Sep	Oxford
2008	22-24 Feb	Reading
2008	16-19 Oct	Dublin
2009	27 Feb-1 Mar	Bristol
2009	25-27 Sep	Liverpool
2010	19-21 Feb	Worcester
2010	10-12 Sep	Cambridge
2011	18-20 Feb	Leeds
2011	14-16 Oct	London

Today

The society’s membership is ever-increasing. Peals are rung several times each year. There are annual spring and autumn tours and the society rings for London Pride and Brighton Pride.

External links

• fods official website