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The World Darts Federation ruled earlier this week that female competitions will not allow biological males who are transgender women.
One trans dart thrower spoke out against the decision in a lengthy Instagram post, calling it a “loss for the trans community in sports.”
“This past Monday, the WDF (World Darts Federation) released a new policy regarding gender eligibility. I want to take a moment to respond. This decision does affect me personally — though, thankfully, not too severely at this point in time. But still, it hurts,” Noa-Lynn van Leuven wrote.
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Noa-Lynn van Leuven of the Netherlands throws against Mikuru Suzuki of Japan during the women’s 2024 Betfred World Matchplay Finals at Winter Gardens July 21, 2024, in Blackpool, England. (Ben Roberts Photo/Getty Images)
“Once again, it’s a loss for the trans community in sports. And that breaks my heart. As a trans person in the darts world, I know how vital inclusion is — not just on paper, but in practice.”
Van Leuven added that “fairness” is coming at the expense of “exclusion.”
“It’s disheartening to see yet another policy framed around ‘fairness’ that ultimately results in exclusion, without truly considering the people behind the labels. My heart goes out to all the athletes impacted by this. We remain visible. We keep going,” van Leuven wrote.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven of Holland celebrates winning the first set before losing her round one match against Kevin Doets of Holland during day three of the Paddy Power PDC World Darts Championship 2024/2025 at Alexandra Palace Dec. 17, 2024, in London. (Tom Jenkins/Getty Images)
Van Leuven twice reached the WDF Dutch Open semifinals in 2023 and 2024 but has since moved to the Professional Darts Championship circuit. Van Leuven has won six women’s PDC titles.
Two of van Leuven’s former Dutch teammates resigned upon van Leuven joining the PDC. Last year, British female darts player Deta Hedman refused to play van Leuven in a WDF event.
Van Leuven has also participated in open events, featuring both biological men and women.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven in a first round match against Kevin Doets during day three of the Paddy Power World Darts Championship at Alexandra Palace, London, Dec. 17, 2024. (Steven Paston/PA Images via Getty Images)
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PDC exec Matt Porter said in November he believed the organization’s policy on trans throwers is “fair” and had no plans of changing the rules despite the U.K. Supreme Court’s decision on defining the terms “man,” “woman” and “sex.”
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