The Daughters of the American Revolution’s 135th Continental Congress held at the historic DAR Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C., June 2026 – Photo: dar.org
The Daughters of the American Revolution voted against a proposal to ban transgender members during the organization’s 135th Continental Congress, held June 26 at Memorial Continental Hall in Washington, D.C. The proposal would have required applicants to be “born female” to qualify for membership.
The organization limits membership to women aged 18 and older who descend from people who aided the American Revolution. An estimated five transgender women have joined DAR chapters in recent years, sparking debate over whether “daughters” should include people assigned male at birth who identify as women.
The proposed resolution was introduced by a group of members known as Daughters Advocating for Restoration, which has spent the past three years pushing the DAR to restrict membership to cisgender women. Supporters argue that, as a private membership organization, the DAR has a First Amendment right to set its own eligibility criteria and limit membership based on biological sex.
According to Laura McDonald, who led the effort to adopt the resolution, it was rejected by a vote of 1,481 to 984.
“Today the Daughters of the American Revolution, whose motto is ‘God, Home and Country,’ voted to reject a resolution that seeks to define the word ‘woman’ in our National Bylaws,” McDonald said in a statement to The Washington Times.
While some DAR members who oppose transgender inclusion said in Facebook posts that they plan to resign, others urged them to remain in the organization and support another vote on a nearly identical resolution in October.
“Stay and fight — remember your ancestors didn’t give up,” one user wrote on Facebook. “Resigning allows them to win. This was your first real run at changing things. This was a learning experience. Remember — You descend from warriors.”
“I’ll hang in until after the October meeting,” wrote another member. “However, I will resign my chapter and district positions and will resign in November from National if no clear plan is in place. I can’t in good conscience continue with an organization hell bent on degrading the status of real women.”
In 2023, the DAR amended its guidelines to include language protecting transgender members from discrimination in the application process. At the time, the organization said the change merely clarified its existing policy that anyone with a legitimate birth certificate identifying them as female is eligible to apply for membership.
“The new language does not change the criteria for membership,” DAR spokesperson Bren Landon told Newsweek in 2023, adding that it “provides additional non-discrimination language” that protects the society’s tax-exempt status.
Some right-wing media outlets portrayed the language change as a new policy allowing transgender women to join the organization. In response, some DAR members, including those affiliated with Daughters Advocating for Restoration, pushed to ban transgender applicants, sought clarification from the national organization, or left the DAR in protest.
DAR President Pamela Rouse Wright said attempts by individual chapters to exclude transgender women would constitute discrimination.
“Some have asked if this means a transgender woman can join DAR or if this means that DAR chapters have previously welcomed transgender women,” Wright wrote in a 2024 newsletter explaining the bylaw clarification. “The answer to both questions is, yes.”
A separate group supporting transgender membership, known as Daughters for Inclusivity, quietly celebrated the defeat of the resolution, while acknowledging the issue is unlikely to be settled.
“Winning is a bitter victory. It was definitely not a landslide. We now need to put this behind us and work to heal our Society. If you have members in your chapter who voted for the resolution, let’s not celebrate in their faces,” one user wrote. “They voted for what they believed in, as did those for inclusion. Let’s all now put our energies into educating our youth, restoring our properties, and caring for our service members, veterans, and their families.”
“We should continue to emphasize our service and commitment to the Constitution with grace, dignity, and inclusivity,” another member wrote. “At the same time, we remain aware that there are Daughters who are actively organizing and promoting exclusion.”
Teagan Livingston, a transgender woman who has been a DAR member since 2022, expressed relief that the resolution was defeated.
“I am one of those trans daughters,” Livingston wrote. “The comments I’m reading in this group offer hope. Although I likely don’t know any of you, thank you so very much for being such steadfast allies. In this current political climate, you’ve no idea how very much that means to me and other trans daughters!”
The York Revolution forfeited its scheduled Pride Night game on June 18 after a majority of players refused to wear Pride-themed uniforms.
The minor league baseball team had been scheduled to host the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs as part of its 11th annual Pride Night celebration, during which players were expected to wear jerseys with rainbow sleeves.
But York Revolution President and General Manager Ben Shipley told NBC News that fewer than nine players on the 28-man roster -- the minimum needed to field a team -- were willing to wear the rainbow uniforms. The refusal led to a team meeting, during which Shipley was unable to persuade the objecting players to wear the rainbow-adorned jerseys.
A Mississippi high school is facing backlash after a Facebook post celebrating the salutatorian of its 2026 graduating class referred to the transmasculine student by his deadname and appeared to digitally alter his face to make him appear more feminine.
The post, published May 17 by D'Iberville High School in Biloxi, Mississippi, congratulated student Jonas Hole on his achievement. The accompanying photo showed Hole in his U.S. Army Junior ROTC uniform.
"Pride. Tradition. Excellence. Congratulations to our DHS Salutatorian," the post reads, using Hole's deadname.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton has secured a settlement requiring Texas Children's Hospital to establish what he called the nation's first-ever "detransition clinic" for patients who previously received gender-affirming care.
Under the settlement, negotiated with Paxton's office and the U.S. Department of Justice, Texas Children's must provide free medical care to patients who underwent gender transition procedures, according to a press release.
The clinic is intended to help patients stop hormone treatments or seek medical care related to detransitioning. Under the settlement, Texas Children's will fund all services provided through the clinic for its first five years.
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