Teen who earned Eagle Scout award for fighting bullying is now denied top honour and kicked out 'because he's gay'

A 17-year-old boy who earned the Boy Scouts of America's highest Eagle Scout award for fighting bullying 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.

Banned: Ryan Andresen, 17, is seen standing in his Boy Scouts uniform before he was told his recently announced sexual orientation eliminated him from their programme

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.



Completed with the help of local elementary and middle school students, the children illustrated the 288 tiles with drawings and short messages that were placed on the wall.

Tolerance of bullying: Ryan stands before his Tolerance Wall, his final project created with the help of elementary and middle school students that combats bullying and would have earned him his Eagle Scout award

'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.'

Scout material: Ryan has been accused of breaking Scout membership rules including his duty to God because of his sexual orientation, prompting a petition by his mother and their 'anti-gay policy'

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.

