17-year old who earned Eagle Scout kicked out 'because he's gay'

[retrofan05]

A 17-year-old boy who earned the Boy Scouts of America's highest Eagle Scout award for fighting bullying (how ironic) has been now denied the top honour and kicked out of his troop after announcing he's gay, his mother says.

After nearly 12 years of scouting in Moraga, California, Ryan Andresen's parents say their son had fulfilled every requirement to earn the scouts' highest ranking but was denied it explicitly because of his sexual orientation.

Scout executives overseeing Ryan's troop 212 affirmed that reason, accusing the teen of not obliging to his 'duty to God' as part of the membership rules.

But Ryan's mother says up until time to sign off on his award - and after having completed its requirements including 21 merit badges and six months in a leadership position - troop leaders never showed any animosity toward his coming out, claiming they knew he was gay after his announcement in July.

'I want everyone to know that [the Eagle award] should be based on accomplishment, not your sexual orientation. Ryan entered Scouts when he was six years old and in no way knew what he was,' his mother Karen Andresen told NBC this week.

She says Ryan completed every requirement to earn the award, with his final approved project having been a 'Tolerance Wall' that advocated standing up to bullying - something she said he has now become a victim of himself.

'I think right now the Scoutmaster is sending Ryan the message that he’s not a valued human being and I want Ryan to know that he is valued ... and that people care about him,' his mother said.

'Recently, a Scout proactively notified his unit leadership and Eagle Scout counselor that he does not agree to Scouting's principle of "Duty to God," and does not meet Scouting's membership standard on sexual orientation,' a statement obtained by Mercury News by Ryan's local BSA council read.

'While the Boy Scouts of America did not proactively ask for this information, based on his statements and after discussion with his family, he is being informed that he is no longer eligible for membership in Scouting.'

Both Ryan's parents - his father Eric Andresen being the troop's chief administrator - confirmed troop leaders notifying them of their decision, and reasoning, directly on Sunday.

Since, Mr Andresen has begun filing an appeal of their decision while Mrs Andresen took to the web, as of Thursday night collecting nearly 112,000 signatures petitioning BSA's anti-gay policy.

BSA spokesman Deron Smith told NBC that there are currently no plans to revisit their membership guidelines that make up their privately held organization.

'It hurts me so much to watch Ryan suffer for being who he is, because to me, he's perfect,' his mother wrote with her petition. ‘I hope that if enough people come together, we can convince my son's troop leaders to help him feel proud of who he is and all he's accomplished.’

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[Penny Lane]

I know that there have been several cases of molestation reported in the Boy Scouts. But usually the deed is done by heterosexual males who are Pedophiles. Just because a person is gay doesn't automatically make them child molesters. That's a whole different thing! I can understand a parent's concern but we all have to get past the ignorance and misinformation concerning Gays.

[robyrob]

sure, protect the heterosexual pedophiles in their organization and then vilify the innocent gays.

[Penny Lane]

Originally Posted by robyrob

sure, protect the heterosexual pedophiles in their organization and then vilify the innocent gays.

So true unfortunately