Lenny the Giant, Roy "Cuddles" Merrin and Danny Blue from The Oddballs

Dwarf tossing, which originated in Australia or in the United States in the 1980s, is an attraction (some consider it a sport) in bars, where dwarfs wearing special padded clothing are thrown onto mattresses by competitors.

References to dwarf-tossing feature in the films of The Lord of the Rings, at the broken bridge in the Mines of Moria, where Gimli tells Legolas "No one tosses a dwarf," and again at the Battle of Helm's Deep.

In 1986, the World Dwarf-throwing Championships were held in Australia. USA were not even represented which may weaken the claim that the sport originated in the United States. The undisputed world champions who still currently hold the record were Team GB from London, England Danny Blue, Roy Merrin and Lenny The Giant.

Challenges to the legality of dwarf tossing

In 1989, Robert and Angela Van Ettan of Florida, members of the Lubbock, Texas-based Little People of America, convinced Florida's legislators that dwarf-tossing should be illegal. The measure banning dwarf-tossing was passed with a wide margin, and New York also later banned dwarf-tossing.

A lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court by Dave Flood, who appears on a morning radio talk show as "Dave the Dwarf," names Governor Jeb Bush and the head of the state agency which enforces the 1989 law which allows the state to revoke the liquor licence or fine a bar that allows dwarf-tossing, an activity that was popular in some Florida bars in the late 1980s.

In France, the Conseil d'État found that an administrative authority could legally prohibit dwarf tossing on grounds, that this activity did not respect human dignity and was thus contrary to public order. The question raised deep legal questions as to what was admissible as a motive for an administrative authority (here, a mayor) to ban an activity for motives of public order; it is unsure whether this decision will have jurisprudence value. The UN High Commissioner on Human Rights judged on September 27, 2002, that this decision was not discriminatory with respect to dwarfs, ruling that the ban on dwarf-tossing was not abusive but necessary in order to protect public order, including considerations of human dignity.

In Ontario, Canada, the Dwarf Tossing Ban Act, 2003 (http://www.ontla.on.ca/documents/Bills/37_Parliament/Session4/b097_e.htm) (Bill 97 2003) was enacted, with penalties of a fine of not more than $5,000 or to imprisonment for a term of not more than six months, or to both.

1986 World Dwarf-throwing Championships

THE AUSTRALIANS David Berry, "Wee" Robbie

THE ENGLISH Roy "Cuddles" Merrin, Lenny The Giant

External links

• Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/h2g2/A711370) dwarf-tossing
• UK Dwarf Throwing Champions (http://www.balloondancer.co.uk/comicdb/dwarf.html)