E-Mail This Article to a Friend DO THE RITE THING Everything you need to know about same-sex marriage BY KRISTEN LOMBARDI

Ever since the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) issued its historic November 18 ruling granting same-sex couples a constitutional right to marry, the debate over gay marriage has dominated both print and broadcast media. But if you think you know everything there is to know about the topic, think again.

This week, Freedom To Marry, a national organization advocating equal marriage rights for gay and lesbian couples, launched a new Web site that even Massachusetts residents immersed in the issue will find illuminating. Indeed, this venture into cyberspace is chock full of obscure factoids that have been all but lost on the general public, despite the torrent of coverage in recent months. Just consider the following tidbits gleaned from the site:

• The 180-day grace period outlined in the SJC ruling officially ends on May 17, 2004 — the date that, coincidentally enough, marks the 50th anniversary of the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. So while Americans commemorate the day that the US Supreme Court declared racial segregation in public schools dead, Massachusetts gay and lesbian couples will be tying the knot, civil-marriage-style.

• Although opponents claim the SJC ruling contains ample "wiggle room" to get around same-sex marriage, nothing better illustrates the court’s firmness than the decision itself. It contains the word "marriage" 189 times, "marry" 36 times, "married" 23 times, "equal" 23 times, and "equality" 13 times. By contrast, the phrase "civil unions" doesn’t appear in the text at all.

• Cambridge city councilor Ken Reeves, who became the country’s first openly gay mayor in 1992, is among 11 "key" black leaders who have publicly supported equal marriage rights. Others include Democratic presidential-primary candidates Carol Moseley Braun and Al Sharpton. Not to mention the civil-rights movement’s symbolic standard-bearer, Coretta Scott King.

• While outlawing gay marriage is often likened to past bans on interracial marriage, the marital institution has a long, sordid history of discrimination. Laws defining women as chattel remained on the books as late as the 1980s, while married women were actually prohibited from using birth control until 1965.

• Finally, in case you’re worried about your favorite superstars, celebrities like Madonna, Lily Tomlin, David Crosby, and Matthew Broderick have already signed on to the so-called Marriage Resolution, which condemns states for barring same-sex couples from a "basic human right."

While the Freedom To Marry site covers the fascinatingly obscure, you’ll find plenty of the predictable and practical, too. There are links to organizations committed to the fight for equal marriage, including the Freedom To Marry Coalition of Massachusetts. And there are up-to-the-minute news articles, activist-alert items, and online-donation pleas. In other words, the site makes for a great resource as the gay-marriage debate heats up right here in the Bay State.

Check it out for yourself at www.freedomtomarry.org .