Another wave of Daughters of the American Revolution members is contemplating leaving the national genealogical society after it doubled down on allowing men to infiltrate the formerly all-female organization.
National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) national bylaws previously required applicants to be women who “prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence.” But national DAR leadership has quietly, for years now, without the knowledge of its members, allowed men with altered birth certificates to join DAR chapters across the United States.
“Right there, you’ve corrupted the lineage possibilities for true patriots because we always have to prove our lineage,” Debby McDermott, a decade-long DAR member and chaplain of Liberty Bell Chapter, told The Federalist.
The DAR officially amended its policies last year to include transgender members. After several attempts to reverse the change, 12 chapters suggested amendments that would require members to “have the biological characteristics of a female in the context of reproductive potential or capacity such as sex chromosomes and naturally occurring sex hormones.” They also asked the national organization to “remove all non-discrimination policy language” about potential members and require members to offer original birth certificate or DNA proof that they are females.
The proposal easily satisfied the national bylaw demands that at least 10 chapters from five states offer endorsements for the amendments to attain national review. Yet on Feb. 10, DAR’s National Board of Management rejected the endorsement in an almost unanimous vote.
The DAR was
