| 1 | 1 | | III |
|---|
| 2 | 2 | | 119THCONGRESS |
|---|
| 3 | 3 | | 1 |
|---|
| 4 | 4 | | STSESSION S. RES. 163 |
|---|
| 5 | 5 | | Recognizing the contributions of Clela Rorex, a pioneering county clerk who, |
|---|
| 6 | 6 | | in 1975, advanced civil rights for all couples seeking to be married. |
|---|
| 7 | 7 | | IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES |
|---|
| 8 | 8 | | APRIL9, 2025 |
|---|
| 9 | 9 | | Mr. B |
|---|
| 10 | 10 | | ENNET(for himself and Mr. HICKENLOOPER) submitted the following |
|---|
| 11 | 11 | | resolution; which was referred to the Committee on the Judiciary |
|---|
| 12 | 12 | | RESOLUTION |
|---|
| 13 | 13 | | Recognizing the contributions of Clela Rorex, a pioneering |
|---|
| 14 | 14 | | county clerk who, in 1975, advanced civil rights for all |
|---|
| 15 | 15 | | couples seeking to be married. |
|---|
| 16 | 16 | | Whereas Clela Ann Rorex (referred to in this preamble as |
|---|
| 17 | 17 | | ‘‘Clela’’) was born in Denver on July 23, 1943; |
|---|
| 18 | 18 | | Whereas Ruby Rorex, the mother of Clela, was a dance and |
|---|
| 19 | 19 | | theater teacher, and Cecil Rorex, the father of Clela, |
|---|
| 20 | 20 | | served for 30 years as clerk of Routt County, Colorado, |
|---|
| 21 | 21 | | where Clela grew up in Steamboat Springs; |
|---|
| 22 | 22 | | Whereas Clela earned her bachelor’s degree from the Univer- |
|---|
| 23 | 23 | | sity of Colorado Boulder in 1973 and a master’s degree |
|---|
| 24 | 24 | | in Public Administration from the University of Colorado |
|---|
| 25 | 25 | | Denver in 1981; |
|---|
| 26 | 26 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 10, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR163.IS SR163 |
|---|
| 27 | 27 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 |
|---|
| 28 | 28 | | •SRES 163 IS |
|---|
| 29 | 29 | | Whereas, in January 1975, at the age of 31, Clela became |
|---|
| 30 | 30 | | the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder; |
|---|
| 31 | 31 | | Whereas, in 1975, when a same-sex couple requested a mar- |
|---|
| 32 | 32 | | riage license in Boulder County, Clela consulted the as- |
|---|
| 33 | 33 | | sistant district attorney and learned that Colorado state |
|---|
| 34 | 34 | | laws did not specifically prohibit granting a marriage li- |
|---|
| 35 | 35 | | cense to a same-sex couple; |
|---|
| 36 | 36 | | Whereas, as a newly elected county clerk, Clela issued a mar- |
|---|
| 37 | 37 | | riage license to Dave McCord and Dave Zamora, the first |
|---|
| 38 | 38 | | marriage license issued to a same-sex couple in the |
|---|
| 39 | 39 | | United States; |
|---|
| 40 | 40 | | Whereas Clela was quoted in 2016 as saying, ‘‘After having |
|---|
| 41 | 41 | | been so deeply involved in the women’s rights movements, |
|---|
| 42 | 42 | | who was I to then deny a right to anyone else? It wasn’t |
|---|
| 43 | 43 | | my job to legislate morality.’’; |
|---|
| 44 | 44 | | Whereas, after issuing the first marriage license to a same- |
|---|
| 45 | 45 | | sex couple in 1975, Clela issued 5 more marriage licenses |
|---|
| 46 | 46 | | to same-sex couples over the next month; |
|---|
| 47 | 47 | | Whereas national news outlets circulated the groundbreaking |
|---|
| 48 | 48 | | story of Clela issuing marriage licenses to same-sex cou- |
|---|
| 49 | 49 | | ples, after which Clela reported receiving a deluge of |
|---|
| 50 | 50 | | death threats and condemnation in hundreds of letters |
|---|
| 51 | 51 | | and phone calls to the Boulder County Clerk’s office; |
|---|
| 52 | 52 | | Whereas, despite the threats, Clela continued her advocacy |
|---|
| 53 | 53 | | efforts on behalf of the LGBTQ community, including by |
|---|
| 54 | 54 | | marching, volunteering, and donating to LGBTQ efforts |
|---|
| 55 | 55 | | for decades; |
|---|
| 56 | 56 | | Whereas, in 2014, a series of court rulings cleared the way |
|---|
| 57 | 57 | | for same-sex marriages in Colorado, and, in 2015, the |
|---|
| 58 | 58 | | Supreme Court of the United States legalized same-sex |
|---|
| 59 | 59 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 10, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR163.IS SR163 |
|---|
| 60 | 60 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 |
|---|
| 61 | 61 | | •SRES 163 IS |
|---|
| 62 | 62 | | marriage nationwide, 40 years after Clela issued the first |
|---|
| 63 | 63 | | same-sex marriage license in the United States; |
|---|
| 64 | 64 | | Whereas Clela was 78 years old when she died on June 19, |
|---|
| 65 | 65 | | 2022, in Longmont, Colorado; |
|---|
| 66 | 66 | | Whereas, in honor of Clela and her advocacy for human |
|---|
| 67 | 67 | | rights, Boulder County, Colorado, declared July 23, |
|---|
| 68 | 68 | | 2022, to be ‘‘Clela Rorex Day’’; and |
|---|
| 69 | 69 | | Whereas Clela should be recognized for her leadership as a |
|---|
| 70 | 70 | | national civil rights leader, paving the way for countless |
|---|
| 71 | 71 | | individuals: Now, therefore, be it |
|---|
| 72 | 72 | | Resolved, That the Senate— 1 |
|---|
| 73 | 73 | | (1) recognizes— 2 |
|---|
| 74 | 74 | | (A) the contributions of Clela Rorex as a 3 |
|---|
| 75 | 75 | | pioneer for civil rights and same-sex marriage; 4 |
|---|
| 76 | 76 | | (B) the respect and bravery Clela Rorex 5 |
|---|
| 77 | 77 | | demonstrated when issuing the first same-sex 6 |
|---|
| 78 | 78 | | marriage license in the United States; and 7 |
|---|
| 79 | 79 | | (C) the courage Clela Rorex exhibited fol-8 |
|---|
| 80 | 80 | | lowing the threats she received when she issued 9 |
|---|
| 81 | 81 | | marriage licenses to same-sex couples; and 10 |
|---|
| 82 | 82 | | (2) designates March 26, 2025, as ‘‘Clela Rorex 11 |
|---|
| 83 | 83 | | Day’’. 12 |
|---|
| 84 | 84 | | Æ |
|---|
| 85 | 85 | | VerDate Sep 11 2014 01:01 Apr 10, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR163.IS SR163 |
|---|
| 86 | 86 | | ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS |
|---|