WDF changes transgender policy: participation in women's and girls' tournaments restricted to females by birth only

The World Darts Federation (WDF) has introduced a revised transgender policy that will have considerable impact on the format of international darts tournaments. From now on, participation in official WDF tournaments in the women's and girls' sections will be reserved for participants registered as women at birth.

The measure follows a vote at the September 2024 general membership meeting, where a majority of member countries agreed to a proposal to keep the women's and girls' categories exclusive to "females at birth.

According to the federation, this decision was taken to respond to the wishes of the majority of member countries, on the one hand, and to respect legal and social standards as they apply worldwide, on the other. At the same time, in its statement, the WDF says it aims to create a sporting environment in which everyone can continue to play darts without fear of discrimination or exclusion.

"Transgender participation in darts is a complex, evolving subject, and our position 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," they stated in their annoucement.

As of today, WDF tournaments are reclassified into four main categories: Open, Women, Open Youth and Girls. The "Open" category is open to all players, regardless of gender or birth sex. Trans women can therefore continue to participate in international tournaments, including ranking and country tournaments.

The Women and Girls categories are now only open to players who are registered as women at birth and are not undergoing hormone treatment to transition to becoming men. Women who have begun gender reassignment surgery via hormone treatment are no longer eligible to participate in these categories. For young girls who cannot play a full-fledged girls' tournament in their home country due to lack of entries, the WDF offers room to compete in the Open Youth category.

While the decision may come across as restrictive to certain groups within the darts world, the WDF stresses that the Open format is expressly intended as an inclusive alternative.

"We understand these changes may be challenging for people who want to compete in darts in the gender which they are now registered as. The WDF has directly contacted its Member Countries so as they can discuss these changes with affected players directly," they penned.