Punishing women for refusing to compete against men:

Female darts players have been threatened with disciplinary action if they refuse to play transgender opponents.

Male opponents, they mean. I suppose there could also be an issue of playing women on testosterone, but that doesn’t seem to happen, maybe because women aren’t as shameless as men who pretend to be women.

Almost four months after a British female player forfeited a match against a trans woman at a World Darts Federation event, the governing body has begun a controversial crackdown on such protests.

Ahead of announcing the provisional fields for this year’s World Championship, the WDF said in a statement: “The WDF wishes to clarify its position on player withdrawals.

“Once the first dart has been thrown in a tournament, any player that subsequently withdraws from playing a match may be considered to be bringing the game into disrepute and could face disciplinary action.”

Hey, you know who is really bringing the game into disrepute? Governing bodies that allow men to infiltrate and destroy women’s sports, that’s who. You. Look in the mirror.

The statement was issued barely a month after Deta Hedman, who pulled out of her Denmark Open quarter-final against Noa-Lynn van Leuven in May, withdrew from a second competition upon learning she would face another trans opponent.

…

Hedman, who has launched a petition against darts’ current gender participation policy, accused the WDF of putting the mental welfare of trans women ahead of those born female.

“They haven’t shown any regard for the mental health of anyone female-born at all,” she said. “It’s all about the mental health of transgender women.”

And so we are forced to conclude that they see women as garbage.

Fiona McAnena, director of campaigns at human rights charity Sex Matters, said: “As if it’s not bad enough that women face unfairness, they’re being forced to play or lose their future chances as well. They lose twice over. It shouldn’t be left to women to take a stand, but if they do, they will be punished. Some people say, ‘Why don’t women refuse to play?’ This is why.”

Van Leuven, who has divided her sport since joining the women’s circuit after beginning transitioning in 2022, made headlines in March after winning two Professional Darts Corporation titles – the PDC Women’s Series in Wigan and a PDC Tour event in Hildesheim, Germany.

Journalists really should not follow the “call him ‘her'” rule in a story of this kind. They never should, but especially in a story of this kind.