Noa-Lynn Van Leuven responds to World Darts Federation transgender ruling

In light of the recent WDF announcement regarding its transgender policy, the organisation’s most high-profile trans player, Noa Van Leuven, has taken to social media to respond:

“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. 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. 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.”

The Dutch thrower is, perhaps, the most visible and certainly the most successful trans dart player to date. But victories on multiple PDC tours and qualification for major womens events have not come without controversy and even protest at the recent Women's World Matchplay.

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The World Darts Federation (WDF)  announced the major update to its transgender policy last weekend, confirming that entry to its Women’s and Girls’ tournaments will now be limited to players who are female by birth.

As expected, opinion remains sharply divided on the issue. From what’s been seen online, a significant portion of darts fans and players appear to support the WDF’s position — viewing the inclusion of trans players such as Van Leuven in the women’s game as an unfair advantage.

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The debate will undoubtedly continue. Whether transgender advocacy groups pursue the matter further, potentially through legal avenues, remains to be seen.

But for now, the darts world is watching closely. All eyes are on the Darts Regulation Authority (DRA), whose stance will directly influence the policy of the PDC.

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