Without its members knowing, the Daughters of the American Revolution opened the door to male membership. Women founded the service organization in 1890, have governed it ever since, and have dedicated themselves to millions of hours of community service annually, but now transgender ideology threatens to fundamentally transform its historic character.
In late June, members of the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution met at its Memorial Continental Hall headquarters for their annual convention. The NSDAR had sent proposed bylaws amendments to chapter regents in advance of the meetings for review and dissemination to chapter members. There was an emphasis in the distributed material about proposed amendments related to an increase in application fees, but an amendment to update nondiscrimination language was initially barely mentioned. It read, “NSDAR and its chapters may not discriminate against an eligible applicant based on race, religion, sexual orientation, national origin, age, disability, or any other characteristic protected by applicable law.”
In the week leading to the annual meeting, known as the Continental Congress, regents received two updates on changes in that proposed language. Some members became suspicious of the proposed amendment and began investigating whether the changes meant the national society would sanction admitting men who claim to be women into DAR membership.
When one regent contacted members of the administrative staff and other organizational leaders, she was told, “We go by the birth certificate.” Then she learned some states allow people to change the sex on their birth certificates and that some members
