I find Dave Chappelle’s concept of empathy for transgender people worth considering — both for what it includes and misses.

“Montero” can offer new perspectives into the realities of Black queerness; for some, including some Catholics, it might even give a voice to their own experiences.

For Catholics, the basic unit of society is the family and our local church, not the individual.

As with much of his pastoral approach overall, the pope’s outreach to L.G.B.T. people can be characterized by the word “accompaniment.”

“I personally deserve attacks and insults because I am a sinner, but the church does not deserve them. They are the work of the devil,” the pope said to the Jesuits of Slovakia on his recent trip.

A task force created by the Archdiocese of Seattle urges more pastoral outreach to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics. But it declined to press for changes to employment provisions at Catholic institutions.