Ryan Andresen has been a Boy Scout for 12 years. Even after coming out as gay at 16, he stayed with the Scouts.
But now he's been denied the chance to rise rank to Eagle Scout.
The Boy Scouts of America says its decision reflects its "Youth Leadership" policy statement:
In the unlikely event that an older boy were to hold himself out as homosexual, he would not be able to continue in a youth leadership position.
Andresen is in shock, especially since he thought his Scoutmaster had his back:
He had been telling me all along that we'd get by the gay thing. It was by far the biggest goal of my life. It's totally devastating.
Andresen and his mom have started an online petition to convince the Boy Scouts to change their mind. But it would need to happen quickly -- he turns 18 in three days, which means his Eagle Scout eligibility is just about up.