U.S. Reps. Gary Palmer and Robert Aderholt are backing a House bill that would limit DAR membership to biological women who meet the organization’s ancestry requirements.
The Daughters of the American Revolution Membership Integrity Act would amend the organization’s federal charter to add a requirement limiting membership to women who otherwise satisfy its existing genealogical and membership qualifications.
U.S. Rep. Ben Cline (R-Va.) introduced the legislation Wednesday with 20 Republican cosponsors, including Palmer (R-Hoover) and Aderholt (R-Haleyville).
“It should be common sense that to be a part of the Daughters of the American Revolution, you have to be a daughter,” Palmer said Friday. “Unfortunately, common sense has become a casualty of the left’s radical agenda.”
Palmer said the legislation would protect the organization’s integrity and preserve its historic purpose.
“Congress will not allow radical activists to erase womanhood from one of our nation’s oldest patriotic organizations,” he said. “I am proud to cosponsor this bill, and I thank Rep. Cline for his leadership on this issue.”
Cline introduced the measure following a dispute over whether transgender women can qualify for DAR membership. His office said the organization adopted a nondiscrimination provision in 2024 that current DAR leadership has interpreted as preventing applicants from being denied membership based on transgender identity.
The DAR describes itself as a nonprofit, nonpolitical women’s service organization focused on historic preservation, education and patriotism. Founded in 1890, the organization reports approximately 175,000 members across 3,000 chapters.
Under the organization’s published membership requirements, an applicant must be at least 18 years old and prove direct bloodline descent from someone who aided the American cause during the Revolutionary War.
Cline said the legislation is intended to require the federally chartered organization to return to what he described as its original purpose of serving the “true daughters of the American Revolution.”
The bill has also received support from Concerned Women for America, Heritage Action, the American Principles Project and Independent Women.
The legislation has been introduced in the House but has not yet received a committee vote.
Sawyer Knowles is a state and political reporter for Yellowhammer News. You may contact him at [email protected].
