Dwarf wrestling group threatens to sue venues and charity after events are cancelled

Organisers of a dwarf wrestling event are preparing to take legal action against venues which cancelled their events.

Performers working with Extreme Dwarfanators Wrestling are touring the UK but were left furious after criticism from a charity led to venues pulling out of the tour.

The Restricted Growth Association (RGA), a British charity, criticised the tour and said that the planned events had "strong historical associations with the Freak Shows of days gone by".

"We remain resolute in our belief that such events are primarily about encouraging audiences to laugh at people with dwarfism and the spectacle of violence against dwarf bodies as entertainment for average height people," Gill Martin, the RGA's chair, said.

The charity also criticised the group's use of the word "midget" when promoting events.

“We are deeply disappointed to see ‘Dwarfanators’ direct visitors to their website to call people with dwarfism ‘midgets’ – which is widely regarded as a highly offensive slur," said Ms Martin.

Three venues have now withdrawn from the wrestling events, according to the BBC.

Morningside Arena in Leicester, the Ferndown Leisure Centre in Dorset, and the Corn Exchange in Devizes have all cancelled shows.

Center Stage Entertainment, the tour's organiser, is now taking action against the RGA "for making false claims" and against the venues for "discrimination".

The company said that letters of complaint had been sent to each party, to give them opportunity to respond and to potentially come to an agreement outside of court.

Devizes Corn Exchange said that it had not received a letter of complaint but had been sent an email asking for venue managers to reconsider their decision.

A spokesperson for the venue said it tried to be "equally accessible to all members of the community irrespective of race, colour or ability" but it was "difficult to see how it would not suggest a level of credibility to the behaviour which is shown towards members of the dwarf community".

Performers with the group were angered by the cancellation of events and will lose two weeks of wages if the tour is cancelled, according to The Daily Telegraph.

"The wrestlers doing the tour feel this is discrimination," a company spokesperson said, "and that any person has the right to choose their own career path and should not be told what they can and cannot do."

The RGA has previously said that events such as dwarf wrestling have a harmful effect on the everyday lives of people with dwarfism.

“We’re well aware these individuals chose to participate in this spectacle," Ms Martin said.

"But their choice sustains an insidious stereotype affecting the rest of us and our ability to choose our own self-image and lead the type of lives we value."

A British politician who has dwarfism has declared his support for the performers.

"If they want to wrestle then let them crack on. If you don't agree with it don't go," James Lusted, a county councillor in Rhos-on-Sea, north Wales, told BBC Radio Wales.

Many of the wrestling events are still scheduled to go ahead with shows in Cardiff, Torquay, Swansea and Liverpool scheduled for October.