“I hope you drop dead”
Trans woman divides the darts scene and receives hate
April 2, 2024, 8:03 p.m
The debate about trans woman Noa-Lynn van Leuven is dividing the darts scene. After her tournament victory on the women’s tour, the Dutchwoman was met with hatred and two teammates resigned. Van Leuven gets support from a World Cup quarter-finalist. But it’s about something bigger.
After a week and a half of hate, Noa-Lynn van Leuven sought the support of her community. While more and more sports greats are getting involved in the heated debate about her and continue to rain severe hostility on social media, the darts player from the Netherlands is finally experiencing recognition and affection again.
At an event for transgender people on Easter weekend in Amsterdam, van Leuven gave a speech and had many encouraging conversations. “I needed a safe place, a place where I could just be me,” van Leuven wrote on Instagram.
Noa-Lynn van Leuven is trans. In 2014 she decided to have gender reassignment surgery. Since this year she has been causing a stir in the darts scene. In mid-March she made her debut on the Challenge Tour in Hildesheim – and won straight away, becoming the first trans woman ever to win at a PDC tournament.
Tennis icon Navratilova gets involved
But when van Leuven triumphed at a Women’s Series event last week, the mood changed. Her Dutch teammates Aileen de Graaf and Anca Zijlstra resigned in protest. “The moment you feel ashamed of playing for the Dutch team because a biological man plays in the women’s team, it’s time to leave,” Zijlstra wrote on Facebook as justification.
Tennis icon Martina Navratilova also expressed her opinion in the debate. “Please no male bodies in women’s sports – not even in darts,” wrote the 18-time Grand Slam winner at X. Van Leuven was met with great hatred on social media. “I hope you drop dead,” was just one of the many comments.
Former World Cup quarter-finalist Dirk van Duijvenbode defended his compatriot van Leuven. “It’s a rules problem and I don’t think we’re the only sport affected,” said the world number 12 in an interview with Dutch radio station 538.
Van Leuven: “That sucks”
The rules allow trans women to participate in women’s competitions. The PDC follows the rules of the Darts Regulation Authority, which in turn follows the criteria of the International Olympic Committee. Accordingly, there should be “no assumption of an advantage”. However, the respective sports should assess “disproportionate advantages” individually.
According to a study by the German Bundestag, trans women are capable of better athletic performance compared to non-transgender women after one year of feminizing hormone therapy. A number of academics also objected to the rules, saying “the inclusion of transgender women in female categories is incompatible with fairness.”
Van Leuven is very annoyed by the topic. “It sucks, but I try not to take it too much to heart,” she said in an interview with the Dartsnews portal: “I think the only thing I regret about this topic is that a lot of people forget, that I am human too.”