{"id":27583,"date":"2025-05-23T07:26:28","date_gmt":"2025-05-23T11:26:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=27583"},"modified":"2025-05-23T07:26:28","modified_gmt":"2025-05-23T11:26:28","slug":"christian-camp-claims-colorado-rules-would-force-it-to-close-down","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2025\/05\/christian-camp-claims-colorado-rules-would-force-it-to-close-down","title":{"rendered":"Christian Camp Claims Colorado Rules Would Force it to Close Down"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Left: Alliance Defending Freedom | Right: IdRaHaJe \/ Facebook<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A Christian camp in Colorado has sued<\/a> the state\u2019s 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 \u201cI\u2019d Rather Have Jesus\u201d) 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.<\/p>\n

According to the suit, such requirements could force the camp to \u201csurrender its religious character, beliefs, and exercise\u201d in following the new rules. \u201cBy 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\u2014discrimination that is \u2018odious to our constitution.\u2019 Trinity Lutheran Church of Columbia, Inc. v. Comer<\/em>, 582 U.S. 449, 467 (2017),\u201d the suit states. The suit further claims that the requirement violates the free expression clause as well as the 14th<\/sup> 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\u2019s policy of using the cabin and bathroom of their biological gender.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery 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,\u201d said<\/a> senior counsel Ryan Tucker of the Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF), which is representing the camp. \u201cThe law ignores reality and children are the ones who ultimately pay the price.\u201d 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<\/a> refused to make a wedding cake for a same-sex couple, saying it violated his religious beliefs. \u201cThe state of Colorado has been quite hostile to people of faith over the past several years,\u201d said Tucker. \u201cIn particular, they’re trying to ram down this gender ideology to everyone in the state.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A Christian camp in Colorado has sued the state\u2019s 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 \u201cI\u2019d Rather Have Jesus\u201d) has operated in the state since 1948 but says soon state regulators may shut it down.…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":516,"featured_media":27586,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27583","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\nChristian Camp Claims Colorado Rules Would Force it to Close Down<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Christian camp in CO sues the state, claiming new gender identity rules threaten its faith-based values and could force it to shut down.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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