LMsA Totally agree.
Also, there's another issue with these "spiritual" men living a monastic life. Let's be real here. A monastic life of self denial, among other monks, with no family, no children, no women - is not easy for most men.
There's a reason the family unit - the more extended the better - is the way humans seem to live most successfully the world over. That's not to say there aren't problems within family's. We know there can be. But total solitude and an asexual life is not something most men - most people - find easy. It's also obvious that it's something that's going to be particularly attractive to gay men. Especially in the days before gay men could marry and live openly in their own family units.