A pub in Oxfordshire caught in the middle of a renaming saga may hold on to its original title after thousands of residents voted in favour of keeping it.
Only days ago, Greene King had announced that The Midget in Abingdon, Oxfordshire, would be rebranded after a lecturer with dwarfism deemed the name offensive.
Now a petition favouring the original name has received more than twice as many signatures as the original one calling for a change.
The pub, which opened in 1974, was named after the MG Midget car that was once manufactured in the market town.
It’s ‘disablist hate speech’
Earlier this year, Dr Erin Pritchard, a senior lecturer in disability studies at Liverpool Hope University, started a petition demanding the pub be renamed as because she claimed the term midget is “disablist hate speech”.
She said: “I have dwarfism and like the majority of people with dwarfism find the word offensive.
“I doubt anyone would tolerate a pub with a name containing an equally derogatory slur against another group of disabled people or an ethnic minority.”
Dr Pritchard, who has successfully pressured Marks & Spencer to rename its Midget Gems product, started a petition in January calling for the name to be changed.
Last week, the pub’s brewing company owner opted to rebrand the establishment as The Roaring Raindrop in a tribute to another MG car, the EX 181, which set a land speed record of 245.6 mph over a distance of 1km in 1957.
Counter-petition secures 3000 signatures
A counter-petition started just six days ago, lauding The Midget’s name as “part of Abingdon’s history”, has accumulated over 3,000 signatures, while the original has 1,344.
The petition states: “I’m sure a lot of people will disagree with this decision and in my opinion I think it is ridiculous, The naming is part of Abingdon’s history.”
A local Oxfordshire resident, Amanda Buckingham said: “People don’t go into the pub and think that it’s about a person — there’s a sign with a picture of the car outside, the pub decor is all about cars.”
