BOSTON (AP) – A new Web site has been created to funnel campaign donations to state legislative candidates who support gay marriage.

Two Massachusetts Internet entrepreneurs started SupportEquality.org as a way to attract donations from gay rights advocates across the country and use them to support pro-gay marriage candidates in Massachusetts who are running in tight races.

“This is the first time anyone has done anything like this,” Thomas Gerace, one of the Web site’s co-creators, told The Boston Globe. “What we recognized is that the Internet is a phenomenal way to tap both givers from across the country and the thousands of people who can give small donations that can add up to large amounts.”

Gerace and Carl Rosendorf, the chief executive officer of Smartbargains.com, hope to raise hundreds of thousands of dollars through the site.

The 200 state senators and representatives elected this fall determine whether a constitutional ban on gay marriage goes on the statewide ballot in November 2006. Given initial approval by the Legislature this year, the constitutional amendment would simultaneously legalize civil unions if approved by voters.

The Massachusetts high court decision that led to the legalization of gay marriage May 17 has made the state ground zero in the national political debate on same-sex unions.

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On the Net:

http://www.supportequality.org

AP-ES-08-22-04 1641EDT