Deta Hedman has stated that she has been campaigning against transgender competitors in women’s darts ‘for the best part of two years’ amid the storm that has engulfed the darts world following her forfeiture of the Denmark Open after being drawn against Noa-Lynn van Leuven. 

The 64-year-old told German newspaper Bild that she was ‘not playing against a man in a woman’s event’ when lined up to face Van Leuven – a trans player who has been competing on the PDC and WDF circuits since 2022 – in the tournament’s quarter-final. 

Supporters of Hedman were quick to offer the former WDF world No 1 compensation after she pulled out of the competition, but the Briton stressed that she had been paid in full by the Denmark Open and instead appears content to raise awareness for her cause. 

When contacted by Mail Sport, the WDF shared a statement saying that the organisation was in ‘the process of reviewing the proceedings’ and therefore cannot comment further.

Questioned after the controversy as to what ‘advantages’ could be gained by competitors who are biologically male, Hedman replied on social media site X: ‘You ever suffered from menstrual, peri menopause, menopause, fibroids, endometriosis, etc? By your response, I very much doubt it.’

Hedman had been drawn against Noa-Lynn van Leuven (pictured) in the competition, who lost in the semi-finals to eventual winner Beau Graves

The former world No 1 insists she has long been an advocate for excluding trans competitors, and is supported by her partner Paul James

But in Facebook posts shared earlier this year, Hedman revealed that she has been a consistent campaigner for excluding trans women from women’s sporting categories, and explained that her reasoning did not solely come down to the ‘menstrual cycle’. 

Alongside her rise to the top of her sport, Hedman also has a full-time job with the Royal Mail as a postie

‘I have been researching and discussing at board level the trans issues, these have been with professional people who have wrote papers on the subject both on strength and precision sports,’ Hedman shared in late March, before detailing that she had completed additional research with the help of her husband Paul James – who also acts as her spokesperson. 

‘I had Paul with help of others do research on 24 years of county performances, men’s and ladies’, only a fool could see from A team to B team there was a considerable difference over 2 decades between mens and ladies,’ Hedman continued. ‘Ladies like Lisa Ashton, Trina Gulliver, Fallon Sherrock, Beau Greaves, Lorraine Winstanley, Anastasia Dobromyslova etc played during this period.

‘Recent Lakeside WC from last 16 onwards, the (averages) of each round of the event was 7-14 points higher in the men’s than the ladies’, look at the quality of the ladies there, yet men were well ahead every round.’ 

March saw Dutch competitors Anca Zijlstra and Aileen de Graaf quit their national team in protest after Van Leuven claimed her first PDC Tour win in Wigan, but Hedman was keen to underscore that she has believed in this issue for some time, adding that claims her campaign was tied to Van Leuven’s success were ‘b***s***’. 

Aileen de Graaf (left) and Anca Zijlstra (right) both quit the Dutch national team in protest

‘I have been concerned about this for best part of two years,’ Hedman continued. ‘At recent World Cup I took six reports on the trans issue , it was discussed at the General meeting and at the Athletes meeting, and many, in fact the vast majority, thought it was wrong and shouldn’t happen.

‘The general consensus of many sporting orgs is that if they banned trans they might face a discrimination case.

‘I ask myself why for decades IOC had testesterone as a banned substance in WADA, we had East German athletes breaking records in the 70’s that still stand today, then they introduced a limit for 10mnol for trans athletes, now it is totally removed! Why? Why was it so wrong then, but okay now?

‘Development tour, challenge tour, pro tour are open events, I think that is a great idea and agree with it 100 per cent.

‘But I’m sorry, the women’s game should be for biological women  this current path could lead to the death of women’s sport as a separate identity.’

Hedman has frequently underlined that she does not support personal attacks against Van Leuven or any trans athletes. Posts of James’ own Facebook page praise Van Leuven for her success qualifying for open events. 

In April, Hedman shared an article by Dr Ross Tucker, a sports scientist who believes that the differences established in puberty can lead to ‘significant performance advantages (between men and women)’, entitled ‘Biological perspectives on transgender athletes in sport’. 

Hedman has over 27 European and World titles gained through an illustrious multi-year career

Tucker is a science and research for World Rugby, as well as a former consultant for USA Triathlon and the UK Olympic Committee, who has previously advocated for an ‘exclusion policy’ for trans athletes in women’s sport.

Hedman has also asserted that her viewpoint is one shared by ‘the vast majority’, sharing in a post on Facebook in mid-April that she believes women are ‘being scaremongered’ by those with differing view points ‘to be quiet’. 

‘This issue has been going on for over two years now, back in 2019 I was elected as Athletes’ Commissioner by the 50 nations who were present at the WDF World Cup,’ Hedman shared.

‘Nobody could ever accuse me of being a nodding dog, my email and (private messages) over the past two years are predominately on the trans issues, and the vast majority of them think its wrong for trans (people) to be in ladies’ sports.

‘Podcasts and online darts etc are all about the mental health wellbeing of trans (people), not one of them have bothered to take in the opinions and views of women (we are not [cisgender]). 

‘I’m never going to be someone to toe the party line, the women I believe are being scaremongered to be quiet.

‘We the vast majority are entitled to be heard as well, in lieu of nobody in the media giving us a platform to get our message across, it will have to be social media .

‘This doesn’t mean abuse of any trans person is right, it’s totally unacceptable, as is some of the coverage of women players for daring to have an opinion different to the men who govern our sport.’ 

Hedman (pictured in 2004) has worked a full-time job for much of her career, forcing two different breaks from the sport

Hedman’s attitude of defiance was likely forged in a gruelling rise to the very top of the sport while juggling a full-time job with Royal Mail. 

The 64-year-old first took up darts in her early twenties, before entering her first super league at the age of 25.

But despite claiming the world No 1 spot in 1994, she was forced to step back from the sport in 1997 due to her work commitments. Hedman is believed to still work, having held her current job for over 25 years. 

‘I tell you what if I had the money Phil Taylor had then I’d be proper, proper happy!’ Hedman told the Sun after her World Championship opening match victory in December 2023. 

‘Because I’m still having to work. I mean, I’ve been working nights 26 years for Royal Mail and in the early days I used to do days.

‘So yeah, I’ve always had a full-time job and the funny thing is, when I say to somebody I’ve always had a full-time job, they go “Really? We thought darts was your job!”‘

Morning Star reported that Hedman’s place of work – a Royal Mail warehouse near Chelmsford – was so unrelenting that the building is referred to as ‘the Dungeon’. 

Due to the vast chasm between paychecks in the men’s and women’s games, Hedman’s full-time job helped support her participation in the tour, despite her groundbreaking talent seeing her claim 15 WDF Europe Cups and 12 World Cup – as well as become the first woman to defeat a male player in a televised major with victory against Aaron Turner. 

Invaluable too is the support of her partner James, who – as per a 2018 interview – helps her to secure sponsorships and plans her commitments and tournament entries in her diary. 

But for both Hedman and James taking a stand does not appear to come without a personal toll. 

An account believed to belong to James shared a now-deleted tweet on Tuesday, saying: ‘Leaving Denmark today, it’s fair to say it’s been eventful, have never cried so much in my life, my mental health was in bits.

‘Heartened by the support from around the world received. (@Save Women’s Sports)’.