A 17-year-old boy who earned the Boy Scouts of America's highest Eagle Scout award for fighting bullying has been now denied the top honour and kicked out of his troop after announcing he's gay, his mother says.

After nearly 12 years of scouting in Moraga, California, Ryan Andresen's parents say their son had fulfilled every requirement to earn the scouts' highest ranking but was denied it explicitly because of his sexual orientation. 

Scout executives overseeing Ryan's troop 212 affirmed that reason, accusing the teen of not obliging to his 'duty to God' as part of the membership rules.