The Stott Declaration

regarding gay marriage exists in a January 1996 interview with CT (and elsewhere) - but this is the most recent example I found online.

"If you want me to stick my neck out, I think I would say that if the church were officially to approve homosexual partnerships as a legitimate alternative to heterosexual marriage, this so far diverges from biblical sexual ethics that I would find it exceedingly difficult to stay. I might want to stay on and fight for a few more years, but if they persisted, I would have to leave."

Due to Stott's influence - both literary and theological - on the evangelical community in America, this statement has set the tone for much of the A. E. debate. This was seen as the line in the sand by most of the evangelical effendi, Dobson, Robertson, et al., and, like it or not, did help to elevate homosexuality to a "greater" sin in the eyes of many. This, coupled with what Lewis Black recently called 'the "ick" factor', has quite effectively stifled meaningful debate on the issue within American Christianity.