Why Should the Church Reach Out to LGBTQ People?

Why should Catholics reach out to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics or, more broadly, to L.G.B.T.Q. people? We should reach out not simply because they are Catholics -- meaning L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, who are part of the Body of Christ -- but because we are Catholic. Part of being Catholic, part of being Christian, is standing on the side of those who are rejected, excluded or marginalized, as Jesus chose to do. As we Jesuits say, it also means "walking with the excluded." And L.G.B.T.Q. people are among the most excluded in our church.