The Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR), one of the nation’s most historic women’s organizations, is facing internal and external pressure from transgender activists after members introduced a resolution to ensure that only biological women can join. On Friday, the resolution was defeated during a drawn-out, multi-vote ordeal.

Founded in 1890, DAR was established as an organization for women who felt excluded from men’s patriotic organizations in order to “honor their revolutionary ancestors and promote historic preservation, education and patriotism in their communities.” DAR’s website states that “Any woman 18 years or older who can prove lineal, bloodline descent from an ancestor who aided in achieving American independence is eligible to join the DAR. She must provide documentation for each statement of birth, marriage and death, as well as of the Revolutionary War service of her Patriot ancestor.”

But last year, it came to light that the organization’s leadership appeared to be succumbing to pressure from LGBT activist groups to allow biological males who identify as women to join the organization. DAR leadership claimed that by “excluding trans-identifying men,” it would “strip the DAR of its 501(c)(3) nonprofit tax status,” but did not reference any federal, civil, or municipal code that it would be violating. A letter addressed to President Trump, led by the Texas chapter of DAR called Daughters Advocating for Restoration and joined five other chapters from five different states, explained that leadership insisted that “a man is a woman if he lives and identifies as a woman and that we must allow men with a state-certified birth certificate, altered to show a female sex marker, in our women’s only society.”

In response, two grassroots proposals were put forward by DAR members to safeguard the organization for biological women, but the proposals were rejected by national leadership, who “admonished members not to speak about it and threatened them with disciplinary action.”

But the movement within DAR to protect women’s rights remained undeterred, as they introduced a resolution at the annual Continental Congress being held this week at DAR’s headquarters in the nation’s capital, once again clarifying that only biological women are eligible to become members of the organization.

In order for a resolution to pass, DAR members must vote for it in person at the Congress. One DAR member familiar with the situation told The Washington Stand that the resolution has garnered strong support from DAR members. “I do know that there are members that are going to Continental Congress this year just for this reason,” she noted.

Nevertheless, DAR’s leadership is making a concerted effort to defeat the resolution. According to a report from The Daily Wire, the DAR Executive Committee “called upon Professor Samuel Bagenstos, a professor of law at the University of Michigan with a history of involvement in LGBTQ+ litigation, to provide members with legal analysis of the ‘risks this resolution would create’ for DAR.” In a legal analysis Bagenstos provided, he claimed that “the proposed resolution would expose the National Society to significant risk of being found in violation of the District of Columbia Human Rights Law.” He further alleged that “If found in violation, the National Society could be required to pay damages to those excluded from membership. More significantly, it would likely lose both its D.C. tax exemption and any licenses or permits to operate Constitution Hall.”

But according to a legal memo authored by Center for American Liberty Founder Harmeet Dhillon (who currently serves as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights at the Department of Justice), the DAR would face no such danger for limiting membership to biological women. If a state or local government attempted an enforcement action against DAR over its women-only rule, “DAR would have a strong First Amendment defense,” she maintained. “[I]t is unlikely that the IRS or the District of Columbia would revoke the DAR’s non-profit status over such a bylaw change given the facts that there is likely no public policy opposing exclusion of transgender-identifying men from female-only private genealogical organizations and that any such attempted revocation would likely violate the DAR’s associational rights.”

On Friday, DAR’s Continental Congress held its vote on the resolution. A DAR member inside the Congress told TWS that debate over the resolution closed at 11 a.m. and a paper ballot was taken among 3,342 eligible voters. But before the ballots were counted, an allegation of fraud was made from the podium, which triggered a second vote with a new voting process. It wasn’t until 8:20 p.m. that the second vote was finally tabulated, which resulted in a defeat of the resolution.