1. (Optional) Age, gender, ethnicity, political party, and/or religious affiliation
I'm a male in my 50s, mostly Caucasian with some Amerind mixed in, NW Europe/British Isles ethnicity, a Libertarian Conservative, and not particularly religious at all.
2. What effect does Prop 8 have on you, directly or indirectly?
It only directly affects people in California, duh. Gay marriage as a whole however affects employer group insurance pools, including mine, bringing in a ton of AIDs patients whose support would otherwise fall on Medicaid, crippling many smaller plans such as school districts or other small pools (I'm in a very large one, so it won't cripple it, just make it cost more). On top of that, it is just stupid, see the next answer.
3. If you believe that gay marriage violates the sanctity of traditional marriage, in what way?
Since the institution of marriage was invented, sometime in the Neolithic period, there have been many variations of it involving plurality, seriality, and monogamy...ALL of which involved at least one woman on one side, and at least one man on the other. What the Hell makes a gay couple a "Marriage?" It's a bullshit idea in the first place. Let's have marriage ceremonies for our damned parakeets or cats, it would mean just as damned much.
4. Do you believe marriage to be an inalienable right, and if so, why for some and not for others?
Not absolutely, though that is the drift of US Constitutional law in the 20th Centruy. Gay people can marry anyone they want, as long as it's someone of a different gender, since that's what "Marriage" is. Butt-buddies and Lesbian partnerships aren't "Marriage" they are just a household partnership or roommates "With privileges."
5. What do you think about the commonly expressed opinion that marriage vs. civil union is a form of "separate but equal"?
It's a straw man. Sexual preference is not protected by the Civil Rights Act, and despite the deep but unproven belief systems of gays and their supporters, hasn't been shown to be genetic or functionally different than the same youthful sex-mapping mental flaws that produce adult shoe fetishists and leather or latex freaks. Nor, aside from race, does "Separate but equal" even apply fully to groups that ARE protected by the Civil Rights Act...race is obvious and immutable from birth, but for other protected classes we have separate handicapped facilities, separate male and female bathrooms, and other such segregated accommodations.
