Amidst the backdrop of a state and national conversation on same-sex marriage, a Colorado teenager is working to legalize gay marriage in the state.
Zoe Mandelski is a senior at Gunnison High School on the Western Slope. For a civics class project, she decided to craft a ballot measure that would allow same sex couples to wed. She says Colorado legalizing civil unions isn’t enough.
"A civil union isn't a marriage, it's a civil union. There's a difference in connotation and denotation because when you think of a civil union, you don't think of a fairytale wedding with all your friends and family. Instead, you just think of a bunch of rights. Marriage is a symbol, and not allowing it to people because of hang-up's, and I don't think it's right," Mandelski says.
She's presenting her final project to her civics class this week. It would put a measure on Colorado’s 2014 ballot if the Secretary of State approves the measure, and enough signatures are gathered.
