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| Ryan Andresen with his Eagle Scout Project; Tolerance Wall Photo courtesy of the Andresen family. |
Ryan Andresen, an honours senior in high school with impressive SAT scores, who's aspiring to attend the University of San Francisco, joined the Boy Scouts when he was just 6 years old. He just completed the final requirements to earn his Eagle Award, including his final project of building a "tolerance wall" for victims of bullying like himself.
According to his mother Karen, because he recently came out to his friends and family as gay, leaders from the Boy Scout Bay Area Region's Troop 212 say they won't approve his Eagle Award honoring him with the Boy Scouts’ highest rank because of his sexual orientation. Karen Andresen told NBC News;
Ryan's father, Eric Andresen, a 52-year-old owner of a property management company, is also working on an appeal of the BSA decision.
“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," said Andresen, 49, a stay-at-home mother of three.
"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.”Not to be deterred, this mom-turned-activist has launched a Change.org petition to get her son his Eagle Award. A Boy Scout gets his Eagle medal by earning many badges, completing all lower scout rank requirements, and carrying out an approved final project. Andresen says that it was a 12-year process for her son, and for his final project, a "Tolerance Wall" for his school to show victims of bullying [like Ryan himself] that they are not alone.
"Ryan worked countless hours with elementary students to amass a wall of 288 unique tiles, all illustrating acts of kindness," Andresen said.Late Thursday, the Boy Scouts of America issued a statement saying that because of Andresen's sexual orientation and that he did not agree to Scouting’s principle of "Duty to God," “he is no longer eligible for membership in Scouting.”
"Andresen recently "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," Deron Smith, a spokesman for the Boy Scouts of America, told NBC News in a statement.
"While the BSA 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.”In an e-mail Thursday to LGBTQNation, Eagle Scout and LGBTQ equality rights activist Zach Wahls, who acknowledged that his organisation, Scouts For Equality has been contacted by the Andresen family, said that the reaction to Karen Andresen's Change.org petition has been extremely positive.
Ryan's father, Eric Andresen, a 52-year-old owner of a property management company, is also working on an appeal of the BSA decision.
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2 comments:
Sadly, I admit that I didn't think about this at all; that scouts start at a very early age and only become sexually aware much later on. The years they invest into this organization shouldn't be allowed to be 'wasted', and it is certainly very wrong to say 'he knew the rules' (about BSA's sexual orientation policy).
Effectively, the BSA is not just denying membership and respect to those gays who become known to be gay, but is denying them those years they've put into the organization. Yes, they've earned badges and gained experience, but turfing out the gays would be pretty nearly the same as someone being drummed out of the military with their record expunged.
The discrimination is wrong in the first place, but the injustice runs even deeper. It is a shameful situation and shameful behaviour, and it can be laid completely at the door of bigoted Christian religious organizations.
For what it's worth, I donated money to the CANADIAN Scouts today, one of many scouting organizations worldwide that actually uphold the values of integrity and all-inclusiveness.
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