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By Vickie Chachere
Associated Press Writer
Wednesday, November 28, 2001; 11:23 PM

TAMPA, Fla. –– A 3-foot-2-inch radio personality sued Wednesday, seeking to overturn Florida's ban on dwarf tossing so he can earn money in the barroom attraction.

Dave Flood, who appears on a morning radio talk show as "Dave the Dwarf," said he doesn't think the state can dictate how he earns his living.

"They assume because you have some physical handicap you can't make decisions for yourself," Flood said. "I don't have a mental handicap. I don't like the government telling me what I can and cannot do."

The lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court names Gov. Jeb Bush and the head of the state agency which enforces the 1989 law. The law allows the state to revoke the liquor license or fine a bar that allows dwarf tossing, an activity that was popular in some Florida bars in the late 1980s.

Flood wants to wear a harness with handles so patrons at bars can pay to pick him up and toss him onto an air mattress or a padded area, his lawsuit said. The lawsuit, which does not seek damages, contends the ban is unconstitutional.

Neither Bush nor the state agency had seen the lawsuit and would not comment on it. Only Florida and New York have laws banning dwarf tossing in bars.

Cara Egan, vice president of public relations for Little People of America in Lubbock, Texas, called Flood's lawsuit a publicity stunt that ignores the physical dangers of dwarf tossing.

"I suggest there are plenty of other ways for him to make a fool out of himself that are legal," she said. "I suggest he take advantage of those."

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On the Net:

Dave the Dwarf: http://www.davethedwarf.com

Little People of America: http://www.lpaonline.org/lpa–officers.html

Hear a poem called "Dwarf Tossing?"
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Dwarf Tossing
  A poem

A small powergroup started getting nervous ;
For while we thought that they would serve us -
We were learning little by little ...
That our '80's leaders began to diddle --

Sending arms to foreign lands ,
Diverting funds to other hands ,
Bringing drugs back to our streets ,
While our poor people suffer with chronic bare feet .

Then one day we the people got wise ;
And what to our ever questioning eyes -
Did they before us toss to our throats --
None other than a convenient scape goat .

We'll blame it all on one little guy ...
A patriot type! They'll never get why !

To aid the coverup from even its birth -
They burned a Lieutenant ,
      
        Colonel Oliver North .






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