Colorado threatens to shut down a Christian summer camp over its refusal to allow boys in girls’ cabins, pushing a 75-year-old faith-based institution into a legal battle for survival against the state’s aggressive gender identity policies.
Key Takeaways
- Camp IdRaHaJe, operating since 1948, is suing Colorado after being denied a religious exemption from regulations requiring camps to allow children to use facilities matching their gender identity rather than biological sex.
- The Christian camp, which serves 2,500-3,000 children annually aged 6-17, faces potential license revocation and fines if it continues to separate campers based on biological sex in accordance with its religious beliefs.
- Alliance Defending Freedom attorneys argue the state is violating the camp’s First Amendment religious freedom rights and Fourteenth Amendment equal protection rights.
- Despite granting other exemptions, Colorado denied IdRaHaJe’s request for religious accommodation, forcing the camp to choose between violating its faith or losing its operating license.
- The case represents a growing conflict between government-enforced gender ideology and religious organizations’ constitutional rights to operate according to their beliefs.
Christian Camp Faces Shutdown Over Biblical Beliefs
Camp IdRaHaJe in Bailey, Colorado, has found itself at the center of a constitutional battle after Colorado implemented new regulations requiring camps to allow children to use facilities consistent with their gender identity rather than biological sex. The camp, which has operated since 1948 and been licensed since 1995, welcomes thousands of children aged 6-17 annually but separates them in cabins and facilities according to biological sex based on its Christian beliefs that God creates each person as either male or female as taught in the Bible.
The Colorado Department of Early Childhood (CDEC) regulations, passed by the General Assembly and signed by Governor Jared Polis, present an existential threat to the camp’s continued operation. After being denied a religious exemption, IdRaHaJe now faces the impossible choice between abandoning its biblical principles to keep its license or maintaining its religious integrity at the risk of being shut down and fined. This has prompted the camp to file a federal lawsuit claiming violations of its First and Fourteenth Amendment rights.
Christian summer camp sues Colorado over new transgender rule https://t.co/4Th4JNlG6x
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Legal Challenge Against State Overreach
Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF) attorneys filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado, arguing that the state is unconstitutionally forcing religious organizations to violate their core beliefs. The camp’s legal challenge asserts that Colorado has no compelling interest in forcing a Christian camp to violate its religious convictions by allowing biological males to share sleeping quarters, bathrooms, and changing facilities with girls. The camp maintains that its policies do not discriminate against any campers, as it welcomes all children while expecting them to abide by its faith-based principles.
“The government has no place telling religious summer camps that it’s ‘lights out’ for upholding their religious beliefs about human sexuality. 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,” said by Andrea Dill, ADF senior counsel.
The lawsuit highlights that while the CDEC has granted other exemptions from its regulations, it specifically refused to accommodate IdRaHaJe’s religious beliefs. This selective enforcement raises serious equal protection concerns under the Fourteenth Amendment and suggests potential religious targeting by state officials. The camp’s attorneys argue that the First Amendment protects religious organizations from government coercion to violate their sincerely held beliefs, especially in matters of sexuality and gender that directly conflict with biblical teachings.
Broader Implications for Religious Freedom
This case represents yet another front in the ongoing battle between President Trump’s vision of religious liberty and the left’s aggressive push to impose gender ideology on faith-based institutions. The camp’s doctrinal statement affirms the biblical teaching that God creates each person as either male or female, a belief shared by millions of Christians and other religious Americans. IdRaHaJe’s policy of separating boys and girls in cabins and facilities is clearly communicated to all parents, and the camp accepts children struggling with gender dysphoria under these policies.
“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,” stated by Alliance Defending Freedom press release.
The outcome of this legal battle will have far-reaching implications for religious organizations across the country. If Colorado succeeds in forcing Camp IdRaHaJe to violate its religious beliefs or shut down, it would set a dangerous precedent for government interference in faith-based operations nationwide. Conservative parents who send their children to religious camps specifically because they share these traditional values will find fewer options available if the government continues forcing compliance with progressive gender ideology regardless of religious objections.
