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http://news.yahoo.com/mother-gay-california-boy-scout-fights-eagle-award-034229703.html

Quote :: Mother of gay California Boy Scout fights for Eagle award
Reuters – Fri, Oct 5, 2012

(Reuters) - The mother of a gay California Boy Scout denied an Eagle award because of his sexual orientation is fighting to overturn the decision before he turns 18, the cut-off date for the organization's highest honor.

Ryan Andresen's mother, Karen, said the scoutmaster of his Troop 212 in Moraga, a San Francisco suburb, had refused to grant Eagle status to Ryan, who has been a scout since age 6, even though he met the requirements.

"His last words were I'd rather resign than sign," Andresen told Reuters.

A petition launched by Andresen on Change.org, an Internet social change platform, calls on his troop to reject the Boy Scouts of America's discriminatory policy against gays and give the California teenager his Eagle rank.

More than 200,000 people had signed the petition by late Friday.

Andresen said her son was staying with friends to avoid publicity, but plans to appear next week on the TV show "Ellen," which is hosted by comedian Ellen DeGeneres and often discusses gay-rights issues.

Andresen said Ryan had been victim of bullying in his troop, and chose as his final Eagle project to create at a local school what he called the "tolerance wall" - a collection of 288 tiles painted by elementary school students depicting acts of kindness.

Ryan surprised even his parents when he came out publicly as gay in July in a mass letter to the troop in which he stood up for another scout who was bullied, Andresen said.

According to its website, the troop is sponsored by a local Presbyterian church and counts more than 75 active members aged 11 to 18. The scoutmaster, listed on the website as Rainer Del Valle, did not respond to an email from Reuters for comment.

Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith indicated in a statement that Andresen's Boy Scouts membership had been revoked.

"This 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," the statement said.

The Boy Scouts of America has come under public pressure on the issue since May when an Ohio lesbian, who was suddenly ejected from her troop, started a petition on Change.org for her reinstatement and an overhaul of the anti-gay policy.

Subsequently, two Boy Scouts board members, the CEOs of telecoms company AT&T and accounting firm Ernst&Young, have spoken out against the discrimination. In September, computer chip-maker Intel, the Boy Scouts of America's biggest corporate donor, withdrew its support for the organization, which has about 2.7 million members.

Good luck to them because this is bullshit. From everything I've read he earned it.

The BSA eventually will be forced to change. IDK why they are resisting and remaining such an anachronism.

It does a disservice not only to the boys it rejects but also the ones it allows in because they get corrupted into an mindset of superiority over other ppl with differing sexuality or religious philosophy. I hope this kid can make a case on a contractual basis that he did the work and now being denied the pay. At least a court battle will add to the disfavor ppl are getting for the BSA.

I was not an official Assistant Scoutmaster in 1967 because I did not profess a religion. The Scoutmaster was going to quit over that, but we agreed to let me participate unofficially with my Air Force buddy who met the requirements.
Mother of gay California Boy Scout fights for Eagle award 1967RobAsstScoutmstrtxt

Mother of gay California Boy Scout fights for Eagle award 1967RobAsstScoutmstrtxt

I later formed a BSA troop and was an official Scoutmaster with the disturbed boys at Madonna Manor and with the hearing impaired boys at an adjacent home. No one asked me about religion (I was working for the Archdiocese of New Orleans) nor did they enquire about my sexual orientation. Denial and assumptions go a long way.

No way I support the BSA position on this issue (or the BSA to begin with) but as long as they are a private organization they're entiltled to their ignorant, narrow minded rules. I don't know why anyone would try to be part of a group that is against your "kind" in the first place.

That really sucks that he has to go though this in order to earn what is rightfully his.

Alan Smithee wrote:: No way I support the BSA position on this issue (or the BSA to begin with) but as long as they are a private organization they're entiltled to their ignorant, narrow minded rules. I don't know why anyone would try to be part of a group that is against your "kind" in the first place.

They're terrible, but their rules are their own. So long as they aren't getting any government money, let them have their antiquated and restricted club. I feel sorry for the boy, but hopefully he has a support system that'll let him know that he's worthy of respect and honor and that the BSA can't take it from him.

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