Translation
The World Darts Federation (WDF) announced this week that new rules banning transgender women from women’s tournaments would go into effect immediately. The decision sidelines the sport’s most prominent trans star, Dutch player Noa-Lynn van Leuven, from WDF women’s events.
As WDF, one of two international governing bodies that organize darts tournaments, explained in its July 28 statement, a motion was put forward at its September 2024 general meeting to limit participation in its women’s and girls’ tournaments to players who were assigned female at birth. As LGBTQ Nation sibling site Outsports reported at the time, English player Deta Hedman, who forfeited a match last May rather than compete against van Leuven, wrote in a Facebook post that the motion was put forward by England and seconded by Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The motion was subsequently voted through by a majority of WDF’s member organizations.
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Some thought Deta Hedman faked an illness to get out of the match, but she made it clear it was purely due to transphobia.
“Since that vote, the WDF has been in consultation with legal representatives in California to understand how and if it could deliver on the vote in a way that ensures the sport remains accessible to all and ensures that transgender participants can enjoy playing darts without fear of discrimination, prejudice, harassment, or any form of discrimination,” the organization said in its statement this week.
It went on to confirm that its policy change banning trans women from women’s and girls’ events would go into effect as of Monday. WDF also said that it had “renamed and redefined” its tournaments, cups, and ranking tables as “Open,” “Women,” “Open Youth,” and “Girls” events.
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As British outlet GB News notes, van Leuven will still be allowed to compete in the “Open” category against adults of all genders. She will also continue to be eligible to compete in women’s tournaments organized by the Professional Darts Corporation (PDC). As Them notes, PDC chief executive Matt Porter has said that the U.K.-based organization has no plans to change its trans inclusive policies following the U.K. Supreme Court’s April ruling that the legal definition of a woman under the country’s 2010 Equality Act is based on “biological sex.”
“It’s not something where there’s going to be changes because of that,” Porter told Darts News in May. “There haven’t been directives passed down in law, or by regulatory bodies to sports organizations to make changes. As and when that happens, we’ll follow those, but at the moment we’re able to stick with our current policy and we’re comfortable with that.”
In its Monday announcement, WDF said that its position on transgender participation “has always been that if there was a material change in scientific studies, law, or the wishes of a majority of the WDF’s Member Countries that we would review the policy and make changes where necessary.” The organization cited no new research to back up its members’ vote last September.
At its previous general meeting in 2023, member countries were presented with a report that “took into account existing research from strength and precision sports, as well as the potential legal and human rights violations that could arise should transgender participation be revoked,” WDF noted in an April 2024 news release. That report, it said, concluded that “Until there are clearer studies on the visuospatial differences [between trans and cis women], the WDF will continue to permit transgender female athletes to play in WDF Ranked Women’s tournaments as per the existing Transgender Policy.”
In the same statement, released just five months prior to its September 2024 vote, WDF acknowledged that it had seen no “significant or conclusive scientific evidence” that trans women possess physiological advantages over cis women in the sport of darts since its 2023 general meeting.
The WDF announcement likely came as no shock to 28-year-old van Leuven, who has repeatedly faced anti-trans protests at tournaments and, she has said, death threats on social media. As recently as Sunday, July 27, three anti-trans protesters were removed by security for trying to throw things at her when she took the stage at the Betfred Women’s World Matchplay, in Blackpool, England, according to Them.
As the site notes, van Leuven has competed mainly in PDC tournaments since the WDF’s vote last September.
“I’m not scared to play in the WDF, but I’m not comfortable,” she told The i Paper last December. “Every time I play a tournament in the WDF, something happens against me. Either bullying, or in Wales, someone even threw a tennis ball at me, and it hit me full in the face.”
Despite facing protests and losing in the semi-finals at Sunday’s tournament, van Leuven made it clear she intends to continue to compete. “I love this game too much and why would I let anyone else ruin my passion for darts?” she told the Daily Record. “I just want to play darts.”
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Source: https://www.lgbtqnation.com/2025/07/tra ... the-sport/