Christian summer camp sues state over gender ideology requirements

Colorado’s regulatory war against Christianity found a summer camp taking a department the state government to court over alleged gender ideology requirements in violation of religious liberty.

From fashioning itself as a bastion of illegal aliens to pushing policies that brought the world the expression, “bake the cake, bigot,” the Centennial State’s leftist extremism has unquestionably given California a run for its money. The same week that Colorado’s openly homosexual Gov. Jared Polis (D) quietly signed the controversial HB25-1312 into law, Christian Camp IdRaHaJe filed suit over a new licensing requirement forcing the faithful to submit to the whims of the transgenderism agenda.

Named after the hymn “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” the summer camp for Christian kids aged six to 17-years-old operating since 1948, boasts attendance of anywhere from 2,500 to 3,000 campers per year. Now, having been denied a religious exemption, the camp is expected to comply with a licensing requirement from the Colorado Department of Early Childhood that expects those claiming to be the opposite sex to be permitted into the bathing areas, changing rooms and sleeping quarters to suit their gender ideology.

“The government has no place telling religious summer camps that it’s ‘lights out’ for upholding their religious beliefs about human sexuality,” said Alliance Defending Freedom legal counsel Andrea Dill in a statement on the firm’s representation in the lawsuit Camp IdRaHaJe Association v. Roy.

“I’d Rather Have Jesus” — and they mean it.

ADF is defending Camp IdRaHaJe (I’d Rather have Jesus)—a Christian camp in CO forced to choose between its faith and its license.

Colorado now requires camps to let boys into girls’ showers & sleeping quarters. When IdRaHaJe asked… pic.twitter.com/RKAGyqAYHi

— Alliance Defending Freedom (@ADFLegal) May 14, 2025

Filed in U.S. District Court for the District of Colorado against the department’s executive director Lisa Roy in her official capacity, as well as Carin Rosa, the director of the department’s Division of Early Learning Licensing and Administration, the camp sought an injunction against the department and a judgement declaring enforcement of the regulations were in violation of the Free Exercise, Establishment, and Equal Protection Clauses of the U.S. Constitution.

“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,” said Dill. “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.”

“Every child deserves respect of privacy,” added ADF senior counsel Ryan Tucker to Fox News Digital. “But that respect of privacy must extend equally to all students. No one should be forced to share a room or shower facilities with someone of the opposite sex.”

“The law ignores reality and children are the ones who ultimately pay the price,” he went on.

This latest legal battle in Colorado comes as Christians across the state rallied against the passage of HB25-1312 and other laws that threaten the rights of parents. Under 1312, custody was threatened should a parent refuse to participate in the delusions of a child who believes themselves to be something other than what they are.

“This is giving the authority to our state to take our children away if we don’t agree with these gender transitions,” Protect Kids Colorado Director Erin Lee had told Fox News host Harris Faulkner on “The Faulkner Focus” before the bill was signed into law. “And so it’s got huge ramifications for all parents, especially those in custody situations who are fighting with their ex-spouses to stop their children from being medicalized.”

Following Polis’ signing of HB25-1312, faith leaders in the state united under the banner Fight 1312 expressed, “It’s a dark day, and also only the beginning. We told you the days of cowardly Christianity were over, and we meant it. We are hard at work behind the scenes on what is next, and we cannot wait to reveal that soon. But for now: Pray. And rejoice in the truth that someday, Colorado will be reclaimed for Christ. Our work towards that continues … Soli Deo Gloria.”

The group also lauded Camp IdRaHaJe for their legal challenge to the state, and wrote, “Something glorious is happening here in Colorado! God is stirring His people and steeling their spines. The era of cowardly Christianity is over.”

1312 IS NOW LAW

About an hour ago, @GovofCO @jaredpolis signed HB 1312 into law during the Friday news dump. And now, thanks to a bill so radical Gavin Newsome wouldn’t even sign, every Colorado can be “Jack Phillipsed” into civil court hell.

It’s a dark day, and also…

— Fight1312 (@fight1312) May 16, 2025

Something glorious is happening here in Colorado! God is stirring His people and steeling their spines. The era of cowardly Christianity is over. https://t.co/edR2PlHbYB

— Fight1312 (@fight1312) May 20, 2025

Staff Writer

Native of Brooklyn, NY, Kevin Haggerty is a graduate of Hunter College where he studied Cultural Anthropology and Geography. An avid reader and truth seeker, he currently resides in Texas with his wife and their dog and, when he isn’t researching current events and their impacts, you’ll find him spending time with friends and family or working on his next novel.

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