"Catholic laity are amongst the most supportive of civil marriage equality."
True. However:
It is not the laity who are afforded greater respect & reverence by legislators, it is the clergy. Legislators (particularly o the right of the political spectrum) appear to bend over backwards to accommodate the will & thinking of the clergy.
It is generally not Catholic laity taking action in the courts on matters of LGBT rights. But the Catholic clergy certainly do (a perfect example of this was the constitutional court challenge to Uganda's toxic anti homosexuality law. Catholic laity were nowhere to be seen in that court case, but the Catholic clergy petitioned the court to stand in defense of that toxic and violent law).

All you have done is point out the human shield of "nice people" surrounding the more rabidly homophobic among the clergy.
You have deflected attention onto the cloak of disguise worn by the inherently homophobic core.