Just days before America celebrates 250 years of independence, one of the nation’s oldest patriotic women’s organizations voted to keep its doors open to biological men who possess altered birth certificates.
The Daughters of the American Revolution rejected a resolution Friday that would have defined membership as limited to those “born female,” ensuring that men who claim to be women can continue joining chapters across the country. The vote wasn’t even close: 1,481 to 984 against protecting the female-only mission the organization was founded to serve.
The decision came during the DAR’s 135th Continental Congress at Memorial Continental Hall in Washington, D.C., on June 26.
Laura McDonald, treasurer of the Martha Laird DAR chapter in Mount Pleasant, Texas, told The Federalist that voting members received misleading information before casting their ballots. Leadership told them “the DAR does not have a First Amendment Right to define membership eligibility,” she said, even though the Center for American Liberty had previously confirmed the organization “would have a strong First Amendment defense” for limiting membership to women.
“By not providing an alternative opinion, we feel as though our officers’ Fiduciary Duty to make sure members are informed was breached,” McDonald said.
McDonald also founded Daughters Advocating for Restoration, a group dedicated to protecting the DAR’s original female-only membership standards.
The vote itself raises questions about transparency. According to McDonald, the resolution was originally scheduled for October 11, 2026, at a special meeting called by over 90 chapters in 33 states. Instead, the National Board of Management added it to the Continental Congress agenda, “bypassing the requirement that 100% of the membership must be notified about this resolution.”
“As a result, only about 3% of the membership were notified, and many members were confused and pre-occupied with Congress activities,” McDonald said.
DAR President General Ginnie Sebastian Storage addressed members after the vote, urging them to “move forward as one National Society, united in purpose and committed to the mission that has guided us for 135 years.” She made no direct mention of what the resolution actually contained.
“To any member who has felt discouraged or unwelcome: you are, and remain, a valued Daughter,” Storage added.
The irony runs deep. The DAR was founded in 1890 specifically because the Sons of the American Revolution voted to exclude women from their organization the year before. Its explicit purpose was to create a society for women who could prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution.
To this day, the Sons of the American Revolution firmly limits its membership to males.
Yet since 2023, the DAR has officially welcomed men with altered birth certificates to its chapters, sometimes without the knowledge of its own members.
The organization’s membership requirements still read: “Any woman 18 years or older, regardless of race, religion, or ethnic background, who can prove lineal descent from a patriot of the American Revolution.” But “woman” now apparently includes men who say otherwise.
For the hundreds of DAR members who have fought for years to protect their organization’s founding purpose, Friday’s vote represents a stunning betrayal. An organization born from women being excluded from a men’s group has now voted to let men into theirs.
