17-year-old Coloradan behind marriage equality ballot proposal

A 17-year-old Gunnison High School senior who is behind a 2014 ballot proposal that would allow same-sex marriage says she's surprised the issue is even controversial. "It seems like a nonissue to me, but I guess that's my generation's view on it," Zoe Mandelski said Wednesday, two days after filing her proposed ballot measure with the nonpartisan Legislative Council. "I do personally support gay marriage, but my parents don't." But, she said, her father, a prosecutor, and her mother, a store owner, think voters should be able to vote on the issue. The proposed measure is Mandelski's project for her civics class. She said she is straight but selected the topic because she found it interesting. Her research has included attending meetings of the Gay-Straight Alliance at Western State College. Although Mandelski will be studying applied mathematics at the Illinois Institute of Technology next year, she said she intends to continue to work on the issue if her proposal survives the lengthy and layered process of making it to the ballot.