{"id":2622829,"date":"2026-07-02T12:14:01","date_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:14:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/daughters-of-the-american-revolution-leader-threatens-members-for-speaking-out-in-favor-of-women\/"},"modified":"2026-07-02T12:16:20","modified_gmt":"2026-07-02T16:16:20","slug":"daughters-of-the-american-revolution-leader-threatens-members-for-speaking-out-in-favor-of-women","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/daughters-of-the-american-revolution-leader-threatens-members-for-speaking-out-in-favor-of-women\/","title":{"rendered":"DAR Leader Threatens Members Who Speak Out For Women."},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdaughters-of-the-american-revolution-leader-threatens-members-for-speaking-out-in-favor-of-women%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2622829&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The article reports on the controversy within the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) regarding its stance on defining \u201cwoman\u201d strictly as \u201cborn female.\u201d After the organization rejected a resolution supporting this definition, a heated response ensued. the head of the Texas DAR chapter, Susan Johnston, threatened members who spoke out against the decision, emphasizing that speaking to the press without DAR approval could lead to disciplinary measures. Meanwhile, the organization\u2019s President General, Ginnie Sebastian Storage, and other leaders demonstrated support for transgender inclusivity, with Storage expressing solidarity with trans members on social media.<\/p>\n<p>legal debates are also highlighted, with DAR leadership citing a legal opinion from Samuel Bagenstos, a law professor known for his pro-trans views, suggesting that the resolution could threaten the society\u2019s tax-exempt status. Conversely, advocates like the Center for American Liberty provided a legal memorandum stating that restricting membership to women is lawful and unlikely to threaten DAR\u2019s status. Despite this, DAR leadership limited the presentation of opposing legal opinions during the Continental Congress and suppressed discussions about the legal arguments supporting women-only membership.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, members like Laura McDonald have faced difficulties in raising concerns, including being ignored by state leaders and removed from private social media groups. the leadership appears to be working to block efforts to restore the society\u2019s focus on women-only membership, with internal conflicts and legal disputes reflecting broader debates over gender definitions within the organization.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>After the National Society Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) rejected a <a href=\"https:\/\/daughtersadvocatingrestoration.org\/501c3-nonprofit-status\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">resolution<\/a> defining \u201cwoman\u201d as \u201cborn female,\u201d the head of the Texas branch of DAR sent out an email threatening those who speak out against the decision. The vote on the resolution, held at Memorial Continental Hall in Washington, D.C. during DAR\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/25\/hundreds-rally-to-preserve-daughters-of-the-american-revolution-for-actual-women\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">135th Continental Congress<\/a>, was 1,481 to 984.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPlease note that giving interviews to the press on National Society governance matters is a serious violation of NSDAR policy, which could result in disciplinary action against a member,\u201d DAR Texas Regent Susan Johnston said in an email obtained by The Federalist.<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p><span><\/p>\n<blockquote data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Texas DAR members are forwarding a nastygram from their regent Susan Johnston, a strong supporter of transing DAR. She is chastizing women who don&#8217;t support the transing of the heritage organization and threatening members who speak out against her efforts.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Mollie (@MZHemingway) <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MZHemingway\/status\/2071947774526951638?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">June 30, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><\/span> <\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<p>In her email, Johnston urges members who are approached by the press to direct them to the DAR\u2019s President General, \u201cas she is the only individual who can speak for the national society.\u201d The President General, Ginnie Sebastian Storage, is a member of the pro-trans Facebook group <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/744599598584264\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daughters for Inclusivity<\/a> that worked to defeat the resolution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo any member who has felt discouraged or unwelcome: you are, and remain, a valued Daughter,\u201d Storage <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/29\/daughters-of-the-american-revolution-betrays-its-mission-by-rejecting-resolution-to-keep-its-ranks-female\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> in a note following the vote. Storage also <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/29\/daughters-of-the-american-revolution-betrays-its-mission-by-rejecting-resolution-to-keep-its-ranks-female\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">demonstrated<\/a> her support for the pro-trans side when she \u201cloved\u201d the post of a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/groups\/744599598584264\/user\/503735551\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">self-described \u201ctrans daughter\u201d<\/a> from her personal Facebook account.<\/p>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<figure><\/figure>\n<p>Despite Storage\u2019s clear ideological leanings, Johnston insisted that she is the only acceptable spokesperson for the organization. She continued: \u201cBefore you accept the claim that DAR\u2019s leaders are corrupt, political, \u2018woke,\u2019 or otherwise harmful to our organization, take a few minutes to study the issue yourself. The world is not simply good versus evil, and the truth rarely lies at the extremes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>This seems to call out the <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2026\/06\/25\/hundreds-rally-to-preserve-daughters-of-the-american-revolution-for-actual-women\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Daughters Advocating for Restoration<\/a>, who chose the colors <a href=\"https:\/\/daughtersadvocatingrestoration.org\/restoration-cockade\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">black and white<\/a> to represent their side \u201cto represent the spiritual battle that we\u2019re in \u2014 the dark vs. the light \u2014 good vs. evil,\u201d according to their website.<\/p>\n<p>In Johnston\u2019s email, she cited a legal opinion sought by DAR leadership from Samuel Bagenstos, a law professor at the University of Michigan and <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MZHemingway\/status\/2071950356204990735?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">former Biden appointee<\/a>. Bagenstos makes the case that the resolution defining \u201cwoman\u201d would open the society up to losing its business license and tax-exempt status under D.C. law.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe legal opinion was written by left-wing activist Professor Samuel Bagenstos, who worked for Eric Holder at DOJ and clerked for the notoriously radical Stephen Reinhardt,\u201d Federalist Editor-in-Chief Mollie Hemingway <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MZHemingway\/status\/2071950356204990735?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">said<\/a> in a post on X. \u201cHe has previously done legal work advocating for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bill-maher-is-not-your-new-conservative-bff\/\" title=\"Bill Maher Is Not Your New Conservative BFF\">radical trans ideology<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What Johnston failed to mention in her email is that members of the Daughters Advocating for Restoration have also sought legal counsel. DAR received a <a href=\"https:\/\/daughtersadvocatingrestoration.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/CAL_DAR-NBOM-Letter-and-Memo.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">legal memorandum<\/a> from the Center for American Liberty, a <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\" >civil liberties nonprofit founded<\/a> by Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, that said it is legal for the organization to restrict membership to women only.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cDAR leadership has also raised the specter of the organization losing its tax-exempt status if it does not allow <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/theres-no-such-thing-as-a-woman-man-crowned-glamour-brazils-woman-of-the-year\/\" title=\"\u2018There\u2019s No Such Thing As A Woman\u2019: Man Crowned Glamour Brazil\u2019s \u2018Woman Of The Year\u2019\">trans-identifying men<\/a> to become members,\u201d Dhillon said in the memorandum. \u201cWe conclude that such an outcome is highly unlikely.\u201d Dhillon explained that any attempt to revoke the DAR\u2019s tax-exempt status over the trans issue \u201cwould likely violate the DAR\u2019s associational rights.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>At the Continental Congress, members were presented with the legal opinion from Bagenstos but were not allowed to read from or mention any other legal documents, according to Laura McDonald, founder of the Daughters Advocating for Restoration. Therefore, members were not presented with Dhillon\u2019s countering memorandum.<\/p>\n<p>This is one of many actions that DAR leadership have taken to prevent the restoration of the society to women-only. McDonald said she tried to contact state leadership several times about the issue with no luck.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn the summer of 2024, I started reaching out to the Texas State Regent, asking for an audience with her,\u201d she explained. \u201cUnfortunately, she refused to meet with me or even speak with me over the phone. I was removed from the private DAR social media pages and only reinstated if I promised not to bring these issues up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The society was initially supposed to take the vote on this issue in October, McDonald explained in a Facebook post. However, the National Board of Management added it as an agenda item for the June Continental Congress, meaning many members didn\u2019t know a vote was happening. \u201cAs a result, only about 3% of the membership were notified, and many members were confused and pre-occupied with Congress activities,\u201d McDonald said in a post to Facebook.<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Skye Graham is an intern at The Federalist. She is a senior History major at Hillsdale College and serves as the assistant features editor for the Hillsdale Collegian.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DAR Texas leader threatens critics after gender resolution vote<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4302,"featured_media":2622830,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-02-at-9.29.21-AM-e1782999037644.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[33651],"tags":[14436,5191,37324,4104,32276],"class_list":["post-2622829","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-western-journal","tag-activism","tag-leadership","tag-political-conflict","tag-threat","tag-womens-rights"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/Screenshot-2026-07-02-at-9.29.21-AM-e1782999037644.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622829","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4302"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2622829"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622829\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2622833,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2622829\/revisions\/2622833"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2622830"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2622829"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2622829"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2622829"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}