| 1 | 1 | | IV |
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| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
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| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
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| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION H. RES. 319 |
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| 5 | 5 | | Recognizing the contributions of Clela Rorex, pioneering county clerk who |
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| 6 | 6 | | advanced civil rights for all couples seeking to be married in 1975. |
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| 7 | 7 | | IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES |
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| 8 | 8 | | APRIL9, 2025 |
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| 9 | 9 | | Mr. N |
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| 10 | 10 | | EGUSE(for himself, Ms. DEGETTE, Ms. PETTERSEN, Mr. CROW, and |
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| 11 | 11 | | Mr. T |
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| 12 | 12 | | AKANO) submitted the following resolution; which was referred to |
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| 13 | 13 | | the Committee on the Judiciary |
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| 14 | 14 | | RESOLUTION |
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| 15 | 15 | | Recognizing the contributions of Clela Rorex, pioneering |
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| 16 | 16 | | county clerk who advanced civil rights for all couples |
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| 17 | 17 | | seeking to be married in 1975. |
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| 18 | 18 | | Whereas Clela Ann Rorex was born in Denver on July 23, |
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| 19 | 19 | | 1943, to Ruby Rorex, a dance and theater teacher, and |
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| 20 | 20 | | Cecil Rorex, who served as Clerk of Routt County, Colo- |
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| 21 | 21 | | rado, for 30 years, where Clela grew up in Steamboat |
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| 22 | 22 | | Springs; |
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| 23 | 23 | | Whereas Clela earned her bachelor’s degree from the Univer- |
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| 24 | 24 | | sity of Colorado Boulder in 1973 and a master’s degree |
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| 25 | 25 | | in Public Administration from the University of Colorado |
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| 26 | 26 | | Denver in 1981; |
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| 27 | 27 | | Whereas Clela, at the age of 31, became Boulder County |
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| 28 | 28 | | Clerk and Recorder in January 1975; |
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| 29 | 29 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 04:19 Apr 10, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\HR319.IH HR319 |
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| 30 | 30 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 2 |
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| 31 | 31 | | •HRES 319 IH |
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| 32 | 32 | | Whereas, in 1975, when a same-sex couple requested a mar- |
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| 33 | 33 | | riage license in Boulder County, Clela consulted the as- |
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| 34 | 34 | | sistant district attorney and learned that Colorado State |
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| 35 | 35 | | laws did not specifically prohibit granting a marriage li- |
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| 36 | 36 | | cense to a same-sex couple; |
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| 37 | 37 | | Whereas, as a newly elected county clerk, Clela issued a mar- |
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| 38 | 38 | | riage license to Dave McCord and Dave Zamora, the first |
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| 39 | 39 | | marriage license issued to a same-sex couple in the |
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| 40 | 40 | | United States; |
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| 41 | 41 | | Whereas Clela was quoted in 2016 as saying, ‘‘After having |
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| 42 | 42 | | been so deeply involved in the women’s rights movements, |
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| 43 | 43 | | who was I to then deny a right to anyone else? It wasn’t |
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| 44 | 44 | | my job to legislate morality.’’; |
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| 45 | 45 | | Whereas, over the next month, Clela issued five more mar- |
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| 46 | 46 | | riage licenses to same-sex couples; |
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| 47 | 47 | | Whereas national news outlets circulated Clela’s |
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| 48 | 48 | | groundbreaking story, after which she reported receiving |
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| 49 | 49 | | a deluge of death threats and condemnation in hundreds |
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| 50 | 50 | | of letters and phone calls to the Boulder County Clerk’s |
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| 51 | 51 | | office; |
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| 52 | 52 | | Whereas Clela issued marriage licenses to six same-sex cou- |
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| 53 | 53 | | ples in Boulder County, Colorado, in April 1975, 40 |
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| 54 | 54 | | years before the Supreme Court legalized same-sex mar- |
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| 55 | 55 | | riage nationwide in 2015; |
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| 56 | 56 | | Whereas, in 2014, a series of court rulings cleared the way |
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| 57 | 57 | | for same-sex marriages in Colorado; |
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| 58 | 58 | | Whereas, despite the threats and for decades, Clela continued |
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| 59 | 59 | | her advocacy efforts on behalf of the LGBTQ community |
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| 60 | 60 | | including marching, volunteering, and donating to |
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| 61 | 61 | | LGBTQ efforts; |
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| 63 | 63 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB 3 |
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| 64 | 64 | | •HRES 319 IH |
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| 65 | 65 | | Whereas Clela was 78 years old when she died on June 19, |
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| 66 | 66 | | 2022, in Longmont, Colorado; |
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| 67 | 67 | | Whereas due to her advocacy for human rights, Boulder |
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| 68 | 68 | | County, Colorado, declared July 23, 2022, as ‘‘Clela |
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| 69 | 69 | | Rorex Day’’; and |
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| 70 | 70 | | Whereas Clela should be recognized for her leadership as a |
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| 71 | 71 | | national civil rights leader, paving the way for countless |
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| 72 | 72 | | individuals: Now, therefore, be it |
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| 73 | 73 | | Resolved, That the House of Representatives— 1 |
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| 74 | 74 | | (1) recognizes— 2 |
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| 75 | 75 | | (A) the contributions of Clela Rorex as a 3 |
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| 76 | 76 | | pioneer for civil rights and same-sex marriage; 4 |
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| 77 | 77 | | (B) the respect and bravery Clela had 5 |
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| 78 | 78 | | when issuing the first same-sex marriage license 6 |
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| 79 | 79 | | in the United States; and 7 |
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| 80 | 80 | | (C) the courage Clela exhibited following 8 |
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| 81 | 81 | | the threats she received when she issued mar-9 |
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| 82 | 82 | | riage licenses to same-sex couples; and 10 |
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| 83 | 83 | | (2) expresses support for the designation of 11 |
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| 84 | 84 | | ‘‘Clela Rorex Day’’. 12 |
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| 85 | 85 | | Æ |
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| 87 | 87 | | kjohnson on DSK7ZCZBW3PROD with $$_JOB |
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