Boy Scout Ryan Andresen, who was denied
an Eagle Scout award because he's gay, says his troop leader won't
speak to him.
Andresen, who lives near San Francisco,
has said that his troop leader knew he was gay but nevertheless
denied him the award after he completed the work needed to earn it.
In an appearance on cabler CNN's
Anderson Cooper 360, Andresen said his leadership service
project was creating a tolerance wall at his middle school.
Andresen said he was “pretty naïve
to” the Scouts' policy banning gay members, adding that his troop
leader told his father about the decision to deny the award.
“He still won't talk to me,” he
said. “He's ignoring me still.”
“It's really sad. I feel really
devastated. Especially because I looked up to him for so long. To
have him just totally ignore me like this, like it's not like him.
It's just sad.”
When Cooper asked why gays should be
allowed in the Scouts, Andresen answered: “Because we're not any
different. We're not inadequate. We're people, too. We're all
people. Everyone's a person.” (The video is embedded on this
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