Margaret A. Downey never has been afraid to challenge authority, and now she’s setting her sights on the Scouts deal.
“I’m known for being a peaceful, kind and loving person,” she said recently. “But I have absolutely no tolerance for wrongful discrimination. I have a deep-seated passion to right wrongs.”
Downey is president of The Freethought Society, a nonprofit based in Pocopson with about 1,000 members, many of whom live in Philadelphia.
She said the group wants to challenge a city plan to sell 231-251 N. 22nd St. to the Boy Scouts Cradle of Liberty Council at a discounted price to settle a federal lawsuit.
“We’re exploring all of our options, and we’re open to any legal advice,” Downey said.
To avoid public bidding, Mayor Nutter plans to use an intermediary to sell the property to the council. But under a 1974 city law, a deed restriction is required that prohibits discrimination on the basis of several categories — including “creed” — if the intermediary is used.
The law also requires that the property be sold at fair-market value.
This week, Kera Armstrong, a spokesperson for the Cradle of Liberty Council, declined to comment on whether the council would abide by a deed restriction prohibiting discrimination on the basis of creed at the property.
Downey said the Scouts have a long history of discrimination on the basis of creed by excluding atheists and agnostics, so she’s eager to oppose the land sale in court, if it gets to that point.
“That [1974] law was put in place for a reason,” Downey said. “We can’t take it lightly. To ignore it would be taking a giant step backward — to the ’60s when discrimination was even more rampant. We honor the people who created that law, because of their great foresight into the harm of discrimination.”
Challenging the Scouts is nothing new to Downey. She said she’s been on the cutting edge of social change for most of her life.
Fifty years ago, as a 10-year-old living in Los Angeles, she scaled a fence to play in a playground adjacent to her home that was controlled by the BSA Los Angeles Area Council.
The L.A. council refused to let her play there because of her gender, she said.
“Actually, the Scouts hired me to serve food and wash dishes at special events,” she recalled. ”If I could do that, why couldn’t I play in their playground? So I’d wait until closing time, then scale the fence and play until dusk. It became clear to me way back then that the Scouts were discriminating for no good reason.”
About the same time, she became an atheist. “My creed is a philosophical conclusion that there is no deity,” Downey said. “To do good is my religion.”
In 1992, Downey filed a complaint with the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission after she and her son were denied participation in the BSA Chester County Council because of their status as nonbelievers, she said.
Seven years later, in an 8-2 vote (with one abstention) the PHRC dismissed Downey’s complaint on the basis that the Chester County Council was “distinctly private,” thus the PHRC lacked jurisdiction.
“It was very disappointing,” she said. “But my complaint clearly established that the Scouts want to be considered a private organization. So that being the case, in Philadelphia they need to get out of a public building on public property.”
Shannon Powers, a spokesperson for the PHRC, said it was unusual for a complaint to last for seven years, only to be dismissed by the PHRC due to lack of jurisdiction.
Powers noted the “patience and tenacity” of Downey through the complaint process.
“Ms. Downey felt strongly about her cause, and was willing to stick with it through a lengthy legal process,” Powers added. “Many people aren’t willing or able to do that.”
In Downey’s opinion, the city should appeal last year’s federal-jury verdict that the city violated the Cradle of Liberty Council’s constitutional rights when it cited the council’s antigay policy as a reason for the eviction.
“The city should take it all the way to the Supreme Court,” Downey said. “It’s that important of an issue. We shouldn’t be giving sweetheart deals to discriminators. That sets a horrible precedent.”
Downey said she’s received death threats because of her activism.
“I get more hate mail and death threats from Eagle Scouts than any other citizens,” she said. “Where do they learn that hate? When BSA does nothing about teaching acceptance, it endangers children.”
Downey said she’s contacted the office of Mayor Nutter to discuss the Scouts deal, but at press time, Mark McDonald, a spokesperson for Nutter, had no comment on whether Nutter would meet with Downey.
Tim Cwiek can be reached at [email protected].