“I’d rather have Jesus than men’s applause. I’d rather be faithful to His dear cause. I’d rather have Jesus than worldwide fame. Yes, I’d rather be true to His holy name.”
These are the powerful words to “I’d Rather Have Jesus,” the 1922 hymn for which Camp IdRaHaJe was named. But as Colorado officials have increasingly abandoned the truth regarding gender and sexuality, the camp’s founders may never have realized just how true these words would ring.
The Christian camp has remained committed to the cause of Jesus Christ, and it has now put the organization in opposition to the Colorado government’s radical position on gender ideology.
Leading children to Jesus
Camp IdRaHaJe is a children’s resident camp that operates Christian summer camps in Colorado for children ages 6 to 17. Founded in 1948, it has spent nearly 80 years pursuing its mission to “win[] souls to Jesus Christ through the spreading of the Gospel,” “edify[] believers through the preaching and teaching of the Word of God,” and “evangeliz[e] campers through witnessing and missions.”
Camp IdRaHaJe offers one-week summer sessions during which children can enjoy Christ-centered programming and fellowship with one another. It also offers a winter children’s camp weekend to bring campers together again and rekindle their excitement for Jesus.
While Camp IdRaHaJe’s programming is based on the teachings of the Bible, families who wish to attend are not required to agree with the camp’s religious beliefs. Parents simply must agree when registering that their children will follow the camp’s policies. Each summer, Camp IdRaHaJe serves around 2,500 to 3,000 campers.
Colorado law requires children’s resident camps to maintain a license to operate in the state, and Camp IdRaHaJe has done so since 1995. But Colorado officials recently made a substantial change to the licensing requirements.
Camps required to adopt gender ideology
In 2024, Colorado enacted new regulations that require resident camps to adopt radical gender ideology in order to keep their license.
Specifically, the regulations require camps to allow campers to use showers, toilets, and changing areas based on “gender identity” rather than their sex. This means that boys who believe they are girls must be allowed to use girls’ facilities, and vice versa.
In addition, campers must be allowed to “sleep in the same room or tent with individuals whose gender identity is consistent with their gender identity,” regardless of their sex. The regulations went into effect on Feb. 14, 2025.
Camp IdRaHaJe holds the beliefs, based on the teachings of the Bible, that God creates everyone either male or female and that sex cannot be changed. Allowing boys into girls’ private spaces and vice versa would violate these beliefs—not to mention threaten the privacy and safety of young campers.
The regulations allow for individualized and categorical exemptions. But when Camp IdRaHaJe asked for an exemption from the gender ideology requirements due to its religious beliefs, Colorado officials denied it.
Camp IdRaHaJe’s first session is set to begin on June 8, 2025, and it is left with an impossible choice: violate its religious beliefs, or risk losing its license to operate.
Court precedent protects religious freedom
Multiple U.S. Supreme Court cases have affirmed that government officials cannot exclude religious groups from otherwise available benefits just because they are religious.
In 2012, Trinity Lutheran Church in Columbia, Missouri, applied to participate in a grant program run by a state agency. The program offered grants to nonprofit organizations to reuse scrap tires for playgrounds.
Trinity Lutheran was seeking a grant to resurface the playground of its Learning Center, which provides quality preschool education and daycare for families in the county. But officials denied the grant because churches were excluded from the program.
Alliance Defending Freedom filed a lawsuit on behalf of Trinity Lutheran, and in June 2017, the Supreme Court ruled in the church’s favor. The High Court also said that it is unconstitutional for the state to treat churches and other religious organizations worse than everyone else simply because they are religious.
In another case, Carson v. Makin, the Court once again affirmed that the government must respect religious freedom. In that case, the state of Maine was excluding religious schools from its tuition assistance program.
Three families filed a lawsuit that eventually reached the High Court, and ADF filed an amicus brief in support of religious freedom. In June 2022, the Court ruled that Maine violated the First Amendment by requiring schools to be “nonsectarian” to qualify for the tuition assistance program. Notably, this ruling prevented Maine not only from discriminating against religious schools for their religious status but also for their religious practice.
Camp IdRaHaJe should be free to live out its beliefs
By requiring camps to adopt gender ideology as a condition of keeping their license, Colorado officials are essentially ignoring these two Supreme Court rulings.
The Carson decision said that government officials cannot disqualify organizations from publicly available benefits simply because those organizations choose to exercise their religious beliefs. But that is exactly what Colorado is doing.
Consistent with its Christian beliefs, Camp IdRaHaJe wants to protect campers from having to shower, dress, and share a bedroom with members of the opposite sex. Religious organizations should be free to live out beliefs like this without facing punishment from government officials.
In May 2025, ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit on behalf of Camp IdRaHaJe challenging Colorado’s gender ideology requirements for resident camps. Colorado cannot force a Christian camp to adopt the state’s extreme policies on gender and sexuality.
Camp IdRaHaJe Association v. Roy
- February 2025: Colorado implemented new regulations forcing resident camps to allow campers to shower, dress, and share a room or tent with members of the opposite sex.
- May 2025: After Colorado officials denied Camp IdRaHaJe an exemption, ADF attorneys filed a lawsuit challenging the new regulations.
