SAN FRANCISCO - A San Francisco Bay area Boy Scouts review board has challenged the Boy Scouts of America's prohibition on gay members by approving a local teenager's application for Eagle Scout status.

Eric Andresen said Tuesday that a four-member board of the Mt. Diablo-Silverado Council unanimously signed off on his son Ryan's bid after the teen's Scoutmaster refused to do so once Ryan came out as gay last fall.

Andresen says the endorsement is a moral victory that for now will have little practical effect for his son.

The council's staff executive is refusing to forward Ryan Andresen's application onto the national Boy Scouts organization for final approval.

Boy Scouts of America spokesman Deron Smith says Ryan does not meet the Scouts' membership criteria.