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.

The first hearing on the proposal by the Legislative Council staff is scheduled for Feb. 11 at the Capitol.

Her proposal reads: “Be it enacted by the voters of the State of Colorado: Article II Section 31 of the Constitution of the State of Colorado is amended to read: A union of one man and one woman, one man and one man, and one woman and woman shall be valid or recognized as a marriage in this state.”

Colorado voters in 2006 approved a constitutional amendment that basically outlawed same-sex couples from marrying. It passed 55 percent to 45 percent. At the same time, voters rejected a civil-unions like measure, 52 percent to 48 percent.

Currently, nine states — Massachusetts, Vermont, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Iowa, New York, Maryland and Washington — allow same-sex couples to marry.

A civil-unions bill winding its way through the state legislature would allow same-sex couples many — but not all — of the rights and responsibilities of marriage. It is expected to pass and become effective in May.

Opponents of Senate Bill 11argue it violates religious freedoms and the will of the people.

Among the opponents is Carrie Earll of Citizen Link, the lobbying arm of Focus on the Family. She said she’s not surprised that something already has been filed allowing gays to marry.

“This is their ultimate goal: to overturn the state marriage amendment one way or another,” she said.

But she questioned the seriousness of the ballot proposal. Earll noted something similar was filed for the last election but was later dropped by the proponents.

One Colorado, the state’s largest gay-rights organization, is not involved with the proposal, a spokesperson said.

Mandelski said she is serious about the proposal, and that Colorado’s amendment process is designed to “let everyone get their say, even if they aren’t part of a large organization.”

But, she said, she didn’t pay attention to politics until last year but then was too busy to get involved. She’s involved in speech and debate.

“I have an interest in the philosophy behind politics instead of the actual politics themselves because the politics in our country make me rather depressed right now,” she said. “They don’t know the meaning of compromise. Everything has to turn into a shocking mess.”

Lynn Bartels: 303-954-5327, lbartels@denverpost.com or twitter.com/lynn_bartels