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A Christian summer camp in Colorado has scored a significant victory after suing over a state gender policy it worried would shutter its doors.
As CBN News previously reported, Camp IdRaHaJe in Bailey, Colorado, asked a court last month to allow it to follow its sincerely held religious beliefs and separate campers by sex and not gender identity.
Conservative legal firm Alliance Defending Freedom has now released a statement noting the camp “has reached a favorable settlement with state officials that allows the camp to operate without compromising its religious and commonsense beliefs about biological sex.”
Colorado has agreed not to enforce its laws regarding gender on the camp, noting on its website that “churches, synagogues, mosques, or any other place that is principally used for religious purposes” are exempt from compliance.
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The issue at the center of the legal battle centered on state regulations governing gender, with the camp declining to operate based on newly adopted parameters due to its Christian faith. The camp, which has been licensed in Colorado since 1995 and derives its name from the song “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” has operated for decades, dating back to 1948, and hosts thousands of children every summer.
As previously reported, a May 12 lawsuit, filed on Camp IdRaHaJe’s behalf by ADF, detailed the camp’s concerns after the Colorado Department of Early Childhood last year created new regulations mandating licensees like the camp allow children to use restrooms and other facilities that comport with their gender identities.
According to The Denver Post, the camp previously said it attempted to get a religious exemption, which wasn’t granted. According to ADF, the purported denial forced “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.”
Now, though, that issue has been remedied.
ADF legal counsel Andrea Dill said in a statement the government doesn’t have the right to threaten to shutter or punish a Christian camp simply for exercising its “religious beliefs about human sexuality.”
“Government officials should never put a dangerous ideology ahead of kids,” ADF Legal Counsel Andrea Dill said in a statement. “State officials must respect religious ministries and their beliefs about human sexuality; they can’t force a Christian summer camp to violate its convictions.”
She continued, “We’re pleased that Camp IdRaHaJe is again free to operate as it has for more than 75 years: as a Christian summer camp that accepts all campers without fear of being punished for its beliefs.”
With a settlement reached, ADF attorneys filed a voluntary notice of dismissal in the case.
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