I was struck by this passage in another memorable essay by gay Catholic theologian, James Alison, a convert from Protestantism:
"Part of this induction into being Catholic has been the discovery of the secret presence of Our Lady, permeating everything. For many of those of us brought up in Protestant backgrounds, it takes a long time to begin to make sense of what can come across as a psychological weirdness with which it is difficult to identify, which doesn't seem to strike chords in us. But I have come to rejoice in and love Our Lady and the difference which she constitutes in the Church. For it is she who makes it impossible for the Church successfully to turn itself either into an ideology or into a moralistic enterprise. She can never quite be co-opted into standing for something other than what she is."
Alison is a rich resource for gay Catholics, trying to reconcile their own deep and often profound faith with the hostility of the hierarchy. His book, "Faith Beyond Resentment," was extremely helpful to me, and may be to others.