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EXCLUSIVE: GOP rep introduces bill to bar biological men from joining Daughters of the American Revolution
By Rachel del Guidice
Published July 15, 2026
FIRST ON FOX — A House Republican is introducing legislation that would require the Daughters of the American Revolution to limit membership to biological women, saying the historic organization's congressional charter should reflect its original mission after the group adopted a policy interpreted as allowing transgender applicants.
Rep. Ben Cline, R-Va., introduced the Daughters of the American Revolution Membership Integrity Act on Wednesday.
"The DAR has a longstanding tradition of celebrating and empowering women who represent the exceptional heritage of the birth of our Nation," Cline said in a statement provided exclusively to Fox News Digital.
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The entrance to the Daughters of the American Revolution headquarters at Constitution Hall on June 6, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
"However, as we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the organization has now abandoned the very principles on which it was founded," Cline added. "Rather than honoring and preserving a lineage-based organization for women, it has embraced radical gender ideology at the expense of the women it was created to serve."
"The Daughters of the American Revolution Membership Integrity Act is common-sense legislation that requires the Congressionally-charted DAR to return to serving the true daughters of the American Revolution," he said.
The bill would impose a requirement to the federal charter that limits membership to only individuals who are biological females and otherwise keeps the genealogical and membership qualifications established by the corporation.
The entrance to the Daughters of the American Revolution headquarters at Constitution Hall, June 6, 2017, in Washington, D.C. (Getty Images)
Cline's bill notes that the term "female" means someone "who naturally has, had, will have, or would have but for a congenital anomaly or intentional or unintentional disruption, the reproductive system that produces, transports, and utilizes the large gamete (ova) for fertilization.’’
Last year, the DAR denied a motion by local members to restrict biological males who identify as transgender from joining the organization.
The group, founded in 1890, is made up of a membership of women who are direct descendants of American Revolutionary War patriots. It voted 1,481 to 984 on June 26 against a measure to keep membership for those "born female," the New York Post reported.
Rep. Ben Cline speaks during a House Judiciary Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., on June 10, 2020. (Greg Nash/The Hill/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
Cline’s office said his legislation has gained support from Concerned Women for America, American Principles Project, Independent Women Forum and the Heritage Foundation.
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Fox News Digital reached out to the DAR for comment but did not immediately receive a response.
https://www.foxnews.com/media/exclusive-gop-rep-introduces-bill-bar-biological-men-from-joining-daughters-american-revolution