Mother Of Eagle Scout Fights For Award Denied Because He’s Gay

Karen Andresen is fighting for son Ryan’s right to receive an Eagle award. Ryan met all the requirements and has been a scout since age 6, but is now rejected by the scouts.

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 http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2012/10/05/eicffqwounkfhmv-556×304-nopad-56f494e8d9d7286316d89d8bb3f6fa8369510319.jpeg?s=12scoutmaster, 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Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith indicated in a statement that Andresen’s Boy Scouts membership had been revoked.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.

By: Alan

Alan Colmes is the publisher of Liberaland.