'The battle is yet to come'
By Emil Guillermo
Record Staff Writer


The U.S. Senate's rejection Wednesday of a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage is a good first step to equality, said Danette Dean, the new head of a local education project in support of same-sex marriage.

"The battle is yet to come," said Dean, 38, who married her lesbian partner last spring in San Francisco. Dean was named last weekend as the leader of the San Joaquin County chapter of Marriage Equality California, the public education wing of the statewide lobbying group Equality California. The lobbying group is based in San Francisco.

Dean said the amendment's failure shows the United States may be ready for some education on same-sex marriage.

"If our senators are doing some soul-searching, that's going to provoke individuals to do the same," said Dean, who pointed out that a number of senators, including Democratic standard-bearers John Kerry and John Edwards, did not vote. "People are beginning to understand you cannot take someone's civil rights away