Everyone agrees that marriage isn’t what it used to be, and everyone is quite right. But most of what “everyone knows” about what matrimony used to be and just how it has changed is wrong. How much do you really know about marriage? The New York Times

Judge Samuel Alito acknowledged that gay marriage issues are likely to be heard in federal courts in the coming years, but said little about how he would rule as a member of the U.S. Supreme Court. Alito told the Senate Judiciary Committee that he expects federal challenges to the Defense of Marriage Act, which Congress passed in 1996, and said states are not required to recognize gay marriages performed in other states. Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) suggested to Alito that the Defense of Marriage Act could violate the full faith and credit clause of the Constitution, which says states must honor each other's actions. Alito agreed. PlanetOut.com

A new year and new threats against same-sex couples with proposed amendments heading to voters in four states, moves to get amendments on the November ballot in three others, and attempts being made in two others and in Congress. Voters this year will be asked to approve proposed amendments limiting marriage to opposite sex-couples in Alabama, South Carolina, South Dakota and Tennessee. Grassroots campaigns are underway in California, Florida and Arizona to force proposed amendments onto the ballot this year. 365Gay.com

Gay marriage supporters filed a lawsuit against Attorney General Tom Reilly in an effort to block a proposed ballot issue that would amend the Massachusetts Constitution to outlaw same-sex marriage. The lawsuit was filed by Gay and Lesbian Advocates & Defenders and challenges a September ruling by Reilly that the repeal effort is legal. Gary Buseck, the group’s legal director, said the state Constitution specifically bars any citizen-initiated amendment that “relates to the reversal of a judicial decision.” Only the Legislature can propose that kind of amendment, he said. USA Today

The current mission of the Family Institute of Connecticut can be described in two ways. It is either, in the words of its young executive director Brian Brown, dedicated to preserving the institution of marriage as “the union of one man and one woman,” as it has been for most of Western history. Or it is dedicated to preventing couples of the same sex from joining in marriage—and thereby destroying its purpose and essence. Hartford Courant

Sen. Sam Brownback (R-Kansas) announced that the Senate Subcommittee on the Judiciary will meet on Nov. 2 to mark up the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment. Brownback, the subcommittee chair, said he expects to hold a vote that day on the proposed amendment, which would ban same-sex marriage, and then send the measure on to the full committee. Brownback said that he hoped the amendment would come to a vote in both the full Senate and House prior to the 2006 mid-term elections. 365Gay.com

Gay nups may have become inevitable, but for now it’s a world of pain. The Village Voice (New York)

Social conservatives in California are feeling pretty cheerful now that the governor has said he will veto the same-sex marriage bill. And yes, across the country, 11 states, including California, have passed bans on same-sex marriage. But here’s some advice: Enjoy it now. It isn’t going to last. San Francisco Chronicle

The California Assembly voted Tuesday to allow gay and lesbian couples to marry, making the state’s legislature the first in the nation to deliberately approve same-sex marriages and handing a political hot potato to an already beleaguered Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R). After a vehement floor debate in which legislators quoted the Pledge of Allegiance and accused each other of abusing moral principles, the state Assembly passed the Religious Freedom and Civil Marriage Protection Act, which recasts the definition of marriage as between “two persons,” not between a man and a woman. The state Senate passed the bill last week. The Washington Post

Gay marriage, runaway brides, abortion, sex education and AIDS all have one thing in common, say sexuality researchers. They’re examples of “moral panics”—a topic that’s the focus of an international sexuality conference being held this week at San Francisco State University. These days, the reigning moral panic is around marriage, and that has everything to do with human rights, health care and the economy, sexuality experts said. The Daily Review