Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys filed a lawsuit Monday with the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado on behalf of a Christian summer camp seeking to uphold its religious and commonsense beliefs about biological sex. The camp is challenging a recent Colorado Department of Early Childhood policy update that forces licensed resident camps to allow campers to use private facilities of the opposite sex.
Camp IdRaHaJe, which derives its name from the song “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” has served children in Bailey, Colorado since 1948 and has maintained a resident camp license in the state since 1995. Recently, the department that issues resident camp licenses amended its regulations, requiring children’s camps to allow campers to access bathing, dressing, and sleeping facilities designated to the opposite sex. When IdRaHaJe requested to run its camp in line with its religious beliefs, the department denied the request, forcing the camp to choose between upholding its beliefs about biological sex and risk losing its license or abandoning its beliefs and mission to minister to children.
“The government has no place telling religious summer camps that it’s ‘lights out’ for upholding their religious beliefs about human sexuality,” said ADF Legal Counsel Andrea Dill. “Camp IdRaHaJe exists to present the truth of the Gospel to children who are building character and lifelong memories. But the Colorado government is putting its dangerous agenda—that is losing popularity across the globe—ahead of its kids. We are urging the court to allow IdRaHaJe to operate as it has for over 75 years: as a Christian summer camp that accepts all campers without fear of being punished for its beliefs.”
IdRaHaJe serves children ages six to 17 and offers off-site backpacking and camping trips along with numerous on-site activities. Each year, 2,500 to 3,000 students attend, and the camp’s mission is to “win souls to Jesus Christ through the spreading of the Gospel.” The camp is open to children of all backgrounds and beliefs, and parents are asked to agree to the camp’s policies when registering.
ADF attorneys note in their complaint in Camp Id-Ra-Ha-Je Association v. Roy that the camp met all of Colorado’s resident camp licensing requirements until the recent amendment. The department annually inspects camps, and any reported violation of regulations risks a loss of license and shutting the camp down. The department allows individualized exemptions, but the department refused to grant the camp an exemption from the amendment that violates its religious beliefs.
