Time to Mail Those Anniversary Cards

Today marks the one year anniversary of the first gay marriage performed in Massachusetts in the wake of that state's supreme court ruling legalizing the practice. Today's cover story in USA Today recounts some of the ground that's been covered on the gay marriage debate over the past year, from last year's elections to the fact that folks in Massachusetts appear to be turning around on the idea (a majority now favor gay marriage). The national debate is set to be reignited, thanks to a federal judge in Nebraska who struck down that state's anti-gay marriage portion of the state constitution. The GOP now has a reason to push its "defense of marriage" amendment to the US Constitution.

On a somewhat related note, the question for this week's Debate Club over at Legal Affairs is whether states should abolish marriage completely. The plan would be to leave "marriage" to religious groups and replace it as a state institution with civil unions open to all.