Texas Chapter That Pushed to Keep Men Out of the Daughters of the American Revolution Goes to Court to Stop Its Forced Dissolution
The national board voted Oct. 10 to disband the 84-year-old Martha Laird Chapter and take about $16,000. The chapter says it is being punished for its advocacy. The national society says the reason was misuse of chapter resources.
A Texas chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution is asking a court to block the national group from shutting it down, The Daily Wire reports.
The filing. The Heritage Foundation's Legal Action Center filed for a temporary restraining order Monday on behalf of the Martha Laird Chapter, which has been part of the group since 1942. The national board voted on Oct. 10 to disband the chapter, and the filing says the board refused its internal appeal and called the decision final. The national society is demanding that the chapter dissolve and hand over roughly $16,000 in assets by Nov. 9.
The background. The chapter led an effort to amend the organization's bylaws at its national meeting in June 2026 to bar men who identify as transgender from joining. The filing says the national society holds that "biological men who identify as women are eligible for membership," while the chapter's members believe an organization founded by women and for women "should remain an organization for women."
The chapter's case. Lea Patterson, a senior litigation counsel at Heritage, said: "You cannot dissolve a Texas corporation simply by sending a letter from Washington." She said the national leadership investigated the chapter's advocacy but never charged it with misconduct. Member Laura McDonald said the chapter did not get a fair chance to defend itself and appears to be targeted "to stop our advocacy from succeeding."
The national society's case. The National Society told The Daily Wire the board found that chapter officers used chapter resources "to further the objectives of a separate advocacy organization founded by one of the chapter's officers," conduct it says discredits the society under its bylaws. It said the decision was "not based on" the members' views on membership eligibility, and that members are free to join other chapters. It also said the chapter's own bylaws send its assets to the Texas State Society on dissolution.
What we could not check. We have not seen the filing or the board's findings, and the report does not say when a judge will rule. The two sides disagree on why the chapter was disbanded, and this report cannot settle that.