40 years ago, a county clerk gave a marriage license to two men [View all]

[eridani]

http://www.upworthy.com/40-years-ago-a-gay-couple-applied-for-a-marriage-license-she-approved-it?c=upw1&u=0e018d238c9aaf7e4ba540d085f1de6403eed500

However, as recently as this week, more than two months after the ruling, a Kentucky county clerk has been denying couples marriage licenses on the grounds that it goes against her personal religious beliefs. Even after being rebuked once again by the Supreme Court, she kept fighting on.

It seems like folks like her might be giving clerks a bad name. So instead, let's focus on one of LGBTQ history's unsung heroes: former Boulder County Clerk Clela Rorex.

In 1975, Rorex was serving as the Boulder County clerk when two men asked about applying for a marriage license.

Rorex was just three months into her term as clerk, but she was about to make a judgment call that would ring throughout history.

In 2014, Rorex stopped by StoryCorps to explain her response to the then unusual request.

"The couple came in; they asked for a marriage license. It's the first time I met openly gay people. I said, 'I don't know if I can do this.' At that point, I went to the district attorney, and he said the Colorado marriage code did not specify that marriage had to beart.between a man and a woman. And therefore I did it."