Background
Downey grew up with a Puerto Rican mother and an Irish father. When her father left, she adopted a family friend "Uncle Floyd" as a father-figure who encouraged Downey into atheism.
Downey grew up with a Puerto Rican mother and an Irish father. When her father left, she adopted a family friend "Uncle Floyd" as a father-figure who encouraged Downey into atheism.
Margaret Downey is known for her activities in this area. This led to Margaret Downey v. Boy Scouts of America, which did not go far in the courts before the United States Supreme Court"s 2000 decision in Boy Scouts of America v.
Dale that the Boy Scouts constituted a private organization and could thus choose their own membership criteria, thus preventing Downey from taking her case further.
Her work has been incorporated into United Nations reports on religious discrimination. In 2003 she was one of the signers of the Humanist Manifesto.