text: I admire Fr. Martin and respect the unenviable task he has set for himself: trying to bridge the wide gulf that exists between LGTB people like me and the Catholic Church, particularly the Catholic hierarchy. But I must take exception to this:
  
  "He ...also exhorts members of the LGBT community to treat the hierarchy with the same respect, compassion, and sensitivity."
  
  If gay people are to treat the hierarchy with the same "respect" that they've been showing us for centuries, most people would call that contempt, not respect. True respect is earned, not gratuitously given, and so far, the bishops have done nothing to earn respect from gay people, quite the contrary.
  
  Since most gay people bolt from churches as soon as they possibly can, my only concern is for the gay kids who are forced to listen to homophobic sermons from (mostly) closeted priests and learn, from the pulpit, how to hate themselves. That's all I care about. Gay Catholic adults who have left can fend for themselves.