Dwarf Tossing in South Florida (December 23, 1988)

Dwarf-tossing, also called midget-tossing, is a pub/bar attraction or activity in which people with dwarfism, wearing special padded clothing or Velcro costumes, are thrown onto mattresses or at Velcro-coated walls. Participants compete to throw the person with dwarfism the farthest. Dwarf Tossing was started in Australia as a form of pub entertainment in the early 1980s. A related formerly practiced activity was dwarf-bowling, in which a person with dwarfism was placed on a skateboard and used as a bowling ball.[1] Since its inception in the 1980s, the activity, due to its problematic name and nature has been highly controversial and remains so in the early 21st century. Legality[edit] Australia[edit] Australia is commonly thought of as the place where dwarf-tossing originated as a form of pub entertainment in the early 1980s.[2][3] Laws may prohibit dwarf-tossing implicitly, but there are not explicit laws preventing a consenting dwarf from being ’tossed’. Canada[edit] In Ontario, Canada, the Dwarf Tossing Ban Act was introduced in 2003 by Windsor West MPP Sandra Pupatello in the Legislative Assembly of Ontario.[4] This private member’s public bill did not proceed beyond its introduction to second or third readings, nor did it receive royal assent, and therefore died at the close of the 37th Legislature.[4] The bill proposed a fine of not more than $5,000, imprisonment of not more than six months, or both. The bill was hastily advanced in response to a dwarf-tossing contest[5] that was held at Leopard’s Lounge in Windsor, Ontario, with a dwarf nicknamed “Tripod“.[6] France[edit] Dwarf-tossing is not prohibited outright in France. The Conseil d’État decided that a public authority could use gross infringement on human dignity as a motive of public order to cancel a spectacle, and that dwarf-tossing constituted such a gross infringement. However, it is up to individual authorities to make specific decisions regarding prohibition.[11] United States[edit] Robert and Angela Van Etten, Florida members of the Little People of America, convinced the Florida Legislature in 1989 to make dwarf-tossing illegal. A measure banning dwarf-tossing was passed by a wide margin. The New York State Legislature later followed suit.[12][13] In 2001, Dave Flood, who appeared on the MJ Morning Show as “Dave the Dwarf,“ filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the 1989 law allowing the state to fine or revoke the liquor license of a bar that allows dwarf-tossing. The pastime was popular in some Florida bars in the late 1980s.[14] In October 2011, Ritch Workman, a Republican member of the Florida House of Representatives, introduced legislation that would overturn the ban on dwarf-tossing, claiming such a ban to be an “unnecessary burden on the freedom and liberties of people“ and “an example of Big Brother government“. Although not a personal advocate of the activity, Workman stated “if a little person wants to make a fool out of themselves for money, they should have the same right to do so as any average sized person“.[15] In Popular Culture[edit] During the battle for Helm’s Deep in Peter Jackson’s 2002 film The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers, one of the heroes, a dwarf named Gimli, reluctantly insists that another hero, a man named Aragorn, “toss” him across a dangerous gap that he cannot jump. (In the 2001 film, The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, Gimli refused similar assistance, declaring “No one tosses a dwarf!” and had almost fallen to his death.) Gimli asks Aragorn not to tell “the elf”, their comrade Legolas, and Aragorn promises.[16] There is never any suggestion that recreational dwarf tossing is part of the world envisioned by Jackson, much less . Tolkien, who published the books in 1954-1955, so it seems likely that these are allusions Jackson inserted with a wink to the audience. Aragorn does launch Gimli to a door that is under attack, follows him, and the two hold it against a horde of evil orcs. It is worth noting that in Tolkien’s stories Gimli is not a little Man, but a Dwarf, a member of “Durin’s folk”, a type of being completely different from Elves, Men, Hobbits, Wizards, etc. It was John Rhys Davies’ double, Brett Beattie, who was actually thrown. In the scene, as a dramatic picture of the rehearsal shows.[17]