A local challenge to the Boy Scouts of America's prohibition on gay members appeared to be for naught Tuesday, after a local BSA official informed a gay teenager from Moraga that his Eagle Scout application would not be going forward that morning.

The announcement came despite a four-member volunteer board unanimously approving 18-year-old Ryan Andresen's Eagle Scout application on Dec. 31 and hand-delivering it to the Mt. Diablo-Silverado Council's leadership, the boy's father Eric Andresen said Tuesday.

The board agreed to review Ryan's qualifications after the Moraga teen's scoutmaster refused to sign off on the application in September. Though the teenager, who had come out as being gay around that time, had finished his Eagle project and completed all of the tasks required of him, Ryan was not only denied the prestigious rank, he was expelled from organization all together.

Ryan's experience entered the national spotlight in October, after his mother launched a petition on the social advocacy site Change.org demanding action on her son's stalled Eagle Scout bid. More than 460,000 people have signed it as of press time.

When the Andresen family was told that the local board had reviewed his application and approved it, they thought they had won.

“We were told last week, the council was going to approve this and send it on,” said Eric Andresen.

But on Tuesday, John Fenoglio, staff executive of the Mt. Diablo-Silverado Council, informed the Andresens that he would not be forwarding the recommendation to the national organization for final approval, leaving the board's endorsement as only a moral victory for the boy's family.

Eric Andresen said he didn't expect national Boy Scout leaders to support his son, but he was still disappointed.

“Ryan always has been the mentoring type, the big brother type. He saw this as not only an opportunity, but a responsibility to try to make change, and he has said it many times that he doesn't want any other Scout to have to go through this,” Andresen said. “It's just blatantly unfair.”

Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith said the Mt. Diablo-Silverado Council’s volunteer review board does not have authority to act on behalf of the regional council. Also, Smith added that Ryan was reported to have rejected a 'Duty to God', a tenant documented in both the Scout’s Law and the Scout’s Oath.

“The Eagle application was forwarded, by a volunteer, to the local council but it was not approved because this young man proactively stated that he does not agree to Scouting's principle of 'Duty to God' and does not meet Scouting's membership requirements,” Smith said. “Sexual orientation is not an issue when it comes to evaluating his duty to God.”

Ryan's family says that Smith’s claims simply are not true. They believe their son's application was rejected because of his sexual orientation. Ryan's father says his son has never denied his Lutheran faith. He thinks the organization’s explanation is just an excuse.

“The only explanation I can think of is, somehow or another they've decided that anybody that’s gay therefore does not subscribe to a duty to God,” said Andresen. “I don't know. That doesn't make much sense.”

“We've asked over and over again what they mean by that,” said Andresen. “No one's been able to tell us anything.”

Ryan Andresen refused requests to speak with the media Tuesday. Ryan’s father said that he was concentrating on his studies, but the teen has also stated publicly that he was tired of attention.

 But his father also said that since his fight to earn his Eagle rank has ended, Ryan has moved on to a bigger project: getting the Boy Scouts of America to change its policies.

“He doesn't want to see any other scouts go through this. And I'm so proud of him for making that stand,” said Eric Andresen.