The Daughters of the American Revolution now allows men who identify as women to join the prestigious genealogical group. Many of its members, however, are fighting back to protect the institution, which was created in 1890 by and for women.
A cornerstone of DAR membership is a woman’s ability to prove her direct lineal and bloodline descent from a patriot who helped America gain its independence. According to the DAR website, a candidate “must provide documentation for each statement of birth, marriage and death, as well as of the Revolutionary War service of her Patriot ancestor.”
But in 2023, the DAR adopted an amendment that states the organization cannot discriminate based on gender or sexual orientation, and clarified that this means trans-identified males must also be admitted if they can prove lineal descent and provide a birth certificate that says he is female.
In response to the policy shift, Daughters Advocating for Restoration was formed in an attempt to better express the will of many DAR members. The group bravely proposed another amendment to the national bylaws—which would define what it means to be a woman, or rather, a daughter—and received support from 44 chapters in 23 states.
“Daughters Advocating for Restoration is dedicated to restoring, preserving, and promoting women-only membership in historical women-only societies as according to the Laws of Nature and Nature’s God,” the group’s mission statement reads. “Our mission is to advocate for the protection, recognition, and Restoration of exclusive female-at-birth membership for historic women-only societies so that they may thrive free from external pressures.”
The DAR’s National Board of Management, however, rejected the group’s proposal at its recent February meeting.
Laura McDonald, a DAR member since 2018, has been at the forefront of this battle.
“For three years now, they [the National Board of Management] have rejected chapters’ attempts to amend the national bylaws seeking to close the loophole that allows men who self-identify as women to be eligible for membership,” McDonald told IW Features.
Members anticipated this response, however, and came up with a plan.
“We started the process for calling a special meeting, which is something that the National Board of Management cannot reject,” McDonald said.
The special meeting is scheduled for October 11, which coincides with the DAR’s 136th birthday.
“At that meeting, that’s where we will debate, discuss, and vote on this resolution, and how we interpret our national bylaws in terms of the word ‘woman,’” McDonald said.
Among rank-and-file members, there seems to be broad support for defining “woman” as a biological female in the DAR’s bylaws. The concern, however, is members actually coming to the meeting to vote.
One hurdle is that members must be aware the meeting is happening—the president general is only required to notify members of the meeting 30 days prior—and to attend and vote, members must be registered as delegates for the June meeting.
There are also financial concerns. Not every member has the means to cover travel costs and accommodations to attend the meeting, which is held in Washington, D.C.
But McDonald said Daughters Advocating for Restoration is prepared to see this fight through to the end.
“It’s about winning this cultural battle, because people suffer. People are the ones that are harmed by transgender ideology,” McDonald said. “The DAR should have no part in the wicked ideology of trans ideology. They should not be holding the hand of this, at all.”
Daughters Advocating for Restoration is fighting to bring the DAR back to its original glory and restore the principles it was founded on, which are not only central to the DAR, but to the American founding, as well, McDonald added.
“Because of God’s grace and because of the willingness of members who have tapped into their patriot heritage, we have fought back in order to restore and preserve the DAR,” McDonald said. “That’s our theme word: restoration. We believe in restoration.”
