Margaret Downey was born into a multicultural family in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Growing up in the highly prejudiced southern society of the 1950s, Margaret became concerned about persecution at an early age. She has devoted her life to ending any and all discrimination against any and all peoples of the world. 

Margaret read literary works of Thomas Paine and Robert G. Ingersoll which enabled her to develop a keen sense of revolutionary thought. She became an openly declared Atheist and activist in her twenties.  Free from the constraints of religious dogma and patriarchal systems, Margaret became involved with the feminist movement. She fought for basic rights such as freedom of expression, freedom of choice, personal family leave for working parents, equal pay and promotion opportunities for women. 

Due to concerns with children's health, Margaret was also involved in anti-smoking issues.  Being an activist for such controversial issues nearly cost Margaret her job twenty-five years ago, however, these initiatives are commonplace today. Even as a single mother Margaret was willing to jeopardize her income to demand respect for women, freedom of choice, freedom of expression and freedom from religious intrusion.

In 1980 Margaret became a businesswoman when she established her own interior design service. This independence enabled her to become more involved in social issues. She is active in maintaining the Jeffersonian wall of church/state separation, freedom from religious intrusion, freedom of choice and death with dignity.  

Margaret founded the Freethought Society of Greater Philadelphia (FSGP) in 1993. FSGP has taken a strong stand against prayers in public schools, government sponsored invocations, placement of freethought literature in university and public libraries and the avocation of rational thinking. Through city proclamations, Margaret has established “Freethought Week” and “Thomas Paine Day” in the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. In 1997, she submitted a proclamation to the city of Philadelphia which subsequently recognized “Privacy Week”

Margaret is editor and publisher of the bi-monthly newsletter published, The Greater Philadelphia Story, written by and for the Atheist community.  The newsletter concentrates on activist issues, political and religious satire, separation of church and state and the advancement of freethought.  As a freelance journalist, she pursues stories of discrimination, choice in dying, humanitarian lifestyles and family planning.

She also founded the Anti-Discrimination Support Network (ADSN), an organization concerned with discrimination against the Atheist community. ADSN monitors public office positions and public schools. In December of 1991 Margaret filed a discrimination case against the Boy Scouts of America (BSA) through the Human Relations Commission of Pennsylvania. After nearly eight years she lost her case against BSA. In the U.S. Supreme court case James Dale v. Boy Scouts of America, BSA declared itself “private” to avoid the question of open membership thus ending her appeal and many other court cases against BSA’s discriminatory membership policy. However, ADSN efforts are responsible for convincing movie producer Steven Spielberg to disassociate himself from BSA.

ADSN acts immediately upon negative stereotyping by writing letters of complaint that demand the offending party to cease hate speech and issue a public apology and/or retraction. Injured parties are serviced through volunteer counselors and attorneys who are sympathetic to the nontheist community. ADSN is compiling a booklet that highlights incidents of bigotry against nontheists living in America. ADSN’s “Erasing Prejudice” program distributes information and training methods in order to develop a national speakers bureau that teaches about tolerance/acceptance and diversity at elementary, secondary and university levels.

In 1994, she founded the Thomas Paine Memorial Committee. The committee has established recognition for the memory of Thomas Paine in various Pennsylvania cities including Philadelphia, Lancaster and York. Margaret is also the author of city proclamations in Cherry Hill, NJ and in Garden Grove, CA. She also authored the Philadelphia City Council Resolution that declares June 8th as Thomas Paine Day.

Margaret is a past board member of the American Humanist Association. She is a current board member of the Freedom From Religion Foundation, The Humanist Institute, the Thomas Paine National Historical Association, Advisory Board Member of the Robert Green Ingersoll Museum and the Atheist Alliance.  Margaret has represented the interests of the nontheist community at several United Nations conferences since. She spoke at the United Nations Freedom of Religion and Belief meeting in New York City and attended the 2001 United Nations Freedom of Religion and Belief Conference in Madrid.  

In the year 2002, Margaret became the first “Secular Humanist Celebrant” in Pennsylvania. Taking advantage of Pennsylvania’s “Self-Uniting” marriage licenses, Margaret performs nontheist weddings and funeral ceremonies.

Margaret has been a guest speaker on National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation and Radio Times. She has also been featured on radio programs in Texas, South Carolina, California, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Florida and Georgia. Always willing to travel, Margaret accepts national and international speaking engagements. She is regularly featured at Atheist/Humanist conferences as a speaker and is well known for her fun-filled presentations that always include visuals, door prizes, props, and well prepared complimentary literature.  

If you would like to contact Margaret, please send a message to:
Margaret@secular-celebrations.com