A Christian camp in Colorado has sued the state’s Department of Early Childhood over new licensing rules, claiming the rules would force the camp to violate its Christian beliefs. Camp IdRaHaJe (named for the hymn “I’d Rather Have Jesus”) has operated in the state since 1948 but says soon state regulators may shut it down. New childcare licensing rules could force licensees to identify children based on their gender identity rather than their biological gender, which could make the camp house biological boys in the same cabin as biological girls, for example. The camp requested a religious exemption but was denied.

According to the suit, such requirements could force the camp to “surrender its religious character, beliefs, and exercise” in following the new rules. “By conditioning a critical government benefit on IdRaHaJe giving up its religious character, beliefs, and exercise, the Department penalizes IdRaHaJe and the children who attend its camps based on their religion—discrimination that is ‘odious to our constitution.’ Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer, 582 U.S. 449, 467 (2017),” the suit states. The suit further claims that the requirement violates the free expression clause as well as the 14^th Amendment, which guarantees equal treatment under the law. According to the camp, it intends to maintain its current policy of identifying and separating students by their biological sex, which could place its license at risk when the state sends regulators in June or July to confirm compliance. The camp does not prohibit transgender campers so long as they are willing to abide by the camp’s policy of using the cabin and bathroom of their biological gender.

“Every child deserves respect of privacy. But that respect of privacy must extend equally to all students. No one should be forced to share a room or showering facilities with someone of the opposite sex,” said senior counsel Ryan Tucker of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing the camp. “The law ignores reality and children are the ones who ultimately pay the price.” Tucker believes that the law is a continued targeted attack from the state against people of faith, which began as early as 2012, when Christian baker Jack Phillips refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, saying it violated his religious beliefs. “The state of Colorado has been quite hostile to people of faith over the past several years,” said Tucker. “In particular, they’re trying to ram down this gender ideology to everyone in the state.”