DAR President Rejects Call for Special Meeting on Membership Definition

DAR President General Ginnie Sebastian Storage declined chapters' requests for a special session to revisit the definition of “woman,” leaving the recent vote on membership criteria unchanged.

President General Ginnie Sebastian Storage of the Daughters of the American Revolution announced that the society will not convene a special session to re-examine the definition of “woman,” despite multiple chapter petitions. She referenced the August 6 posting on the Members’ Website, stating that Article VIII does not obligate the President General to call another vote on a resolution already decided by the representative body earlier this year.

The earlier vote at the 135th Continental Congress in Washington, D.C., rejected a proposal to restrict membership to those born female by a margin of 1,481 to 984. Opponents such as Laura McDonald, treasurer of the Martha Laird DAR chapter in Mount Pleasant, Texas, contended that the vote should have occurred at a specially called meeting with full notification. Storage maintained that email notices and website postings satisfied the required notice. The controversy has spurred backlash within the DAR and led Senator Marsha Blackburn to propose legislation aimed at preventing male membership in the organization.