BOSTON (AP) -The first anniversary of Massachusetts’ gay marriage decision was marked with little fanfare Thursday, but both sides said it was simply the calm before a storm of new battles over the ruling’s legacy.

Lawyers at Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders, which represented the seven same-sex couples who filed the landmark lawsuit, are poised to appeal a second case to the Supreme Judicial Court on behalf of out-of-state gay couples who are currently barred from marrying here.

Conservative groups, heartened by the success of anti-gay marriage ballot questions in 11 states earlier this month, are retooling their local opposition to focus on the public schools, where they say teachers now feel free to promote the gay lifestyle.

The Massachusetts Family Institute issued a pamphlet this fall, warning parents about “How same-sex marriage will affect your school.” Distributed through churches and conservative organizations, the brochure shares anecdotes about how 7-year-old “Patrick” was told by his teacher that homosexuality was normal and how “Stacey,” a sixth-grader, called her parents bigots after one of her teachers had said that opponents of gay marriage were bigoted.

These stories are likely to become fodder for the second round of the Legislature’s debate on a constitutional amendment that would revoke gay marriage privileges while providing civil union benefits to same-sex couples.

The Legislature narrowly passed such a measure earlier this year but must approve it again before it could wind up on the November 2006 ballot.

“Children are being indoctrinated in our public schools on the validity and moral superiority of same-sex marriage,” said Massachusetts Family Institute President Kris Mineau, sounding what is likely to be a central theme for conservatives in upcoming legislative debates. “This is unacceptable. No society should be doing this to its children.”

Gay rights advocates call this a desperate ploy by conservatives, and say that opponents’ predictions about the evils of same-sex marriage have not come true in the six months since the first weddings began taking place on May 17.

“No longer can they assert that gay folks marrying will bring about the end of western civilization, because it hasn’t, and no longer can they assert that it will destroy the institution of marriage, because it hasn’t,” said Arline Isaacson, co-leader of the Massachusetts Gay and Lesbian Political Caucus. “So they’re desperate for something else and they’ve come up with this truly bogus premise about schools.”

The crowds that packed the Statehouse during a protracted debate on a proposed constitutional amendment to ban same-sex marriages weren’t around on Beacon Hill on Thursday.

And while the high court ruling, the legislative debate and the kickoff to same-sex weddings drew crowds, protests and celebrations around the state, advocates on both sides of the issue were largely quiet a year after the decision.

A group of gay marriage opponents who want to impeach the four judges who signed on to the decision marked the day with a gathering on the town green in Lexington. The group had once planned to burn the judges in effigy. Instead, someone dressed up as Chief Justice Margaret Marshall, who wrote the decision, and burned a copy of the state Constitution.

In Springfield, the Faith In Action Team scheduled a candlelight vigil in honor of traditional marriage across from City Hall.

In Boston, a few of the plaintiff couples in the gay marriage case were slated to join gay rights advocates for a panel discussion on the “future of marriage equality.”

The real fireworks, however, will begin during the upcoming legislative session, when lawmakers will return in January to consider the constitutional amendment.

While nationally the momentum appears to have swung against gay marriage, it is unclear where things stand in Massachusetts, now that thousands of marriages have taken place and dozens of lawmakers have been re-elected despite their support for same-sex weddings.

In addition, conservative House Speaker Thomas Finneran has stepped down since the last debate, leaving in his place a more socially liberal leader, Salvatore DiMasi of Boston.

While both sides say they have cause for optimism, they both realize the fight will be fierce and the outcome in no way predetermined.

“This is just a lull before the storm,” Mineau said.