The historic Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) organization, which currently allows transgender members to join its chapters, has pointed to the policy as a necessity for DAR to maintain its tax-exempt status. But, a local chapter in Texas is challenging that premise with the help of the Center for American Liberty (CAL).
CAL drafted a letter to DAR leadership, arguing that a policy to exclude natal men, including natal men who identify as women, from membership eligibility is both lawful and would not jeopardize the DAR’s status as a tax-exempt nonprofit, according to a memorandum reviewed by Fox News Digital.
In September 2024, the Martha Laird Chapter, along with the endorsement of 11 other chapters, submitted a proposed bylaw amendment to prohibit all men, including trans-identifying men, from DAR membership eligibility.
“A woman is defined as a biological female at conception, having naturally occurring X chromosomes, exclusive of Y chromosomes, and certified as female or girl on the original birth certificate,” the proposed bylaw reads. “NSDAR and its chapters may not discriminate against an eligible applicant.”
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The DAR Board of Management is set to consider the amendment during its next meeting on Feb. 8. If approved, the proposed bylaw amendment would go to the full DAR membership for a vote at the upcoming Continental Congress this summer.
“We will continue doing this every year until we at least get a vote at the Continental Congress,” Laura McDonald, member of the Martha Laird DAR Chapter, told Fox News Digital. “That’s the only fair and transparent way to handle this.”
CAL, on behalf of the Martha Laird DAR Chapter in Texas, argues that members of the organization have a First Amendment right to exclude trans-identifying men from eligibility.
“To the extent state and local public accommodation statutes may be interpreted to require the DAR to admit trans-identifying men, such a requirement would likely violate the DAR’s First Amendment rights if the DAR determined that such a requirement would interfere with its ability to advance its intended message,” the memorandum reads.
Additionally, they argue that while nonprofits run the risk of losing their nonprofit status if they act in a way that is illegal or contrary to “national public policy,” it is unlikely that the DAR, a genealogical association that limits membership to natal females, violates national public policy.
“To the best of our knowledge, the IRS has never revoked a sex-based organization’s nonprofit status based on the fact that the organization excluded trans-identifying men from membership eligibility,” the memorandum reads. “Moreover, the DAR currently excludes men who do not identify as transgender from eligibility.”
“This exclusion constitutes discrimination on the basis of sex, which is typically prohibited by public accommodation laws, yet to the best of our knowledge, the IRS has never considered exclusion of men from a private organization’s membership rolls contrary to national public policy,” the memorandum continues.
The DAR was founded in 1890 as a place for women who share a commitment to honoring Revolutionary War patriots and promoting historical preservation, as they couldn’t join their male counterparts in the Sons of the American Revolution. Members famously must trace their lineage to those who helped fight in the war for American independence.
“The fact that we’ve excluded men since our founding… we should have lost our nonprofit status a long time ago or never even obtained it to begin with,” McDonald said.
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In June 2024, former DAR member Brenda Becker spoke with Fox News Digital about her resignation from the organization in protest following bylaw amendments that said chapters cannot “discriminate against an eligible applicant based on race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law,” leading to criticism that biological men identifying as transgender women could be part of the group. But the organization noted that was already the case.
“This literally is the epitome of gaslighting because, first of all, they tell members that nothing has changed in their admissions process from the beginning when we were founded in 1890, that only women are eligible for membership,” McDonald said. “But, then they go on to say that a man who claims he’s a woman is a woman, and therefore he’s eligible for membership. But if you are a man that doesn’t claim to be a woman, you’re not eligible for membership.”
The updated language was criticized for its vagueness, with some members expressing confusion last year over whether this would mean transgender women could join. In a document titled “Answers to Frequently Asked Member Questions Regarding Transgender Women in DAR,” which was shared with Fox News Digital, the organization’s leadership affirmed that transgender members were permitted to join.
Since the organization announced the amendment during DAR’s 2023 Continental Congress, over 500 members and former members of the DAR have sent nearly 3,000 messages to DAR leadership expressing discontent with the bylaw change, according to the New Tolerance Campaign (NTC). Members against the change argue that unless the bylaws are reversed, they will be forced to share changing rooms, restrooms and hotel rooms with biological males.
Becker told Fox News Digital she and other women feel like they are being deceived, and added it was ironic that one can join the DAR using an altered birth certificate when membership is contingent on accurate biographical records.
McDonald said her chapter’s new proposal also requires either a DNA test to confirm the female gender or a sworn statement that says the birth certificate that the applicant is submitting has not been altered in terms of sex. She added that this was especially important because the organization hasn’t typically allowed any altered birth certificates to act as verification for admission.
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“If I were to adopt a little girl right now, she could not use her altered birth certificate to get into the DAR, using my line, my biological line,” McDonald explained. “She would have to go dig up her original birth certificate and jump through all these other hoops that other applicants don’t to prove her biological line.”
“The DAR is saying: ‘Hey, man, if your state has issued you a new birth certificate, it’s an amended birth certificate, it’s not an original, but it says you’re a female, we’ll take that. We won’t make you go find your original document,” she said.
“But, ‘Hey, woman If you’ve been adopted and you have a birth certificate that says that your mother has lineal descent of a patriot, but she’s not your biological mother, you can’t use that one. You have to go through all these extra hoops,'” she added. “To me, that’s a form of discrimination.”
McDonald also believes that the cultural tide is shifting.
“Everybody is realizing that this trans ideology, this agenda to have men infiltrate women’s spaces, is starting to not be popular anymore, and it’s not as accepted,” McDonald said.
Eric Sell, associate litigation counsel with the Center for American Liberty and Schilman Legal Fellow, shared a similar analysis, arguing it is very unpopular among the DAR members to allow men and transgender identifying men into the organization’s membership.
“The only reason the bylaw amendment didn’t pass last go around is because these members are being told that they have to do this, or they’re going to lose their nonprofit status or be subject to some other kind of legal penalty,” he said.
“It’s pretty clear in the case law that the DAR has this First Amendment right and they would be able to use that as a defense if, in the unlikely event, some government actor were to bring an enforcement action against them,” he added.
Fox News Digital reached out to the Daughters of the American Revolution for comment, but has yet to receive a response.
