Update: Please Help Eagle Scout, bullied/denied by his troop - story going viral

You can help keep the pressure on the Scouts to make a change in their bigoted policy.

A scout since age 6, Ryan Andresen has been working on his Eagle for 12 years. (Story previously discussed here.) Basically, the Scoutmaster promised Andresen his Eagle, knowing he was gay, and then reneged on the promise. The chickenshit Scoutmaster hasn't even had the decency to tell Ryan himself, or to return his calls. So much for the integrity of the Scoutmaster.

But the story is going viral. A major NBC news article resulted in a number of media interviews and, according to Ryan, "change is happening." He was on Ellen, who arranged to give him a $20,000 college scholarship. You can read the article (and see the Ellen appearance) here.

But even more importantly, another gay Eagle Scout, from the same troop, 30 year old Matthew Kimball, has taken on the fight. Matthew was able to earn his Eagle because he remained closeted while in the Scouts; he admires Ryan's bravery and wants to do his best to ensure that future gay Scouts do not lose the opportunity to earn the Eagle. Kimball has organized a Facebook group, "A Good Turn", and is actively working with the local and national scouting groups.

I had a brief email exchange with Kimball, who offered that getting more visibility to the Facebook group, and having people sign the petition at change.org will help keep the pressure on the Scouts to finally make this change... and perhaps to right the egregious wrong done to Ryan.

If you are so inclined, please feel free to sign the petition.