A sleepaway Christian camp inBailey has voluntarily dropped its lawsuit against the Colorado Department of Early Childhood over the state’s gender-identity regulations in what appears to be a case of misunderstanding and entangled semantics.

But both sides are claiming victory.

One month after filing the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Denver, arguing for the right not to be forced to conform to a state policy requiring use of bathrooms, showers and sleeping quarters by self-identified gender and not biological gender, the Alliance Defending Freedom reached what it calls a “favorable settlement” and filed a notice of dismissal for its client, IdRaHaJe Christian Camp and Retreat Center. The name of the 77-year-old camp is short for “I’d Rather Have Jesus.”

Citing religious rights, the camp argued that it should be allowed to operate without compromising its “religious and commonsense beliefs about biological sex.”

The camp alleges in its lawsuit that the state’s Department of Early Childhood, which licenses children’s residential camps, denied its request last August for a religious exemption related to gender-identity rules. The policies enable people to use private facilities of their self-identified gender.

However, the Colorado Department of Early Childhood claims the regulations cited in the legal complaint do not apply to the camp.

The rules referenced are based on the Colorado Civil Rights Commission’s implementation of the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act in 2009. Those rules “do not apply to places principally used for religious purposes,” such as Camp IdRaHaJe, according to the state department.

The state adopted rules regarding gender identity in 2018 “for consistency” with the 2009 rules and then made amendments in February of this year — which Camp IdRaHaJe and its legal counsel interpreted as applying to the organization. 

But under current law, none of the gender-identity regulations “have ever applied to or been enforced against child care providers that are churches, synagogues, mosques or entities that are principally used for religious purposes, including Camp IdRaHaJe,” the state department said.

The lawsuit alleged the camp was at risk of losing its resident licensing if it did not comply.

The camp was never under threat of closure for violating licensing regulations raised in the lawsuit, nor did the state department take any enforcement action, Executive Director Lisa Roy said in a statement.

The Alliance Defending Freedom said part of the settlement included the state agreeing not to take any enforcement action against Camp IdRaHaJe for alleged violation of the state’s gender-identity policies.

Under the settlement, the state also clarified in a memo on its website and in administrative guides that “churches, synagogues, mosques or any other place that is principally used for religious purposes” are exempt from the requirements.

But the state department “does not provide advisory opinions” on whether an entity is covered by the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act, which applies to “places of public accommodation,” according to the settlement agreement.

“Government officials should never put a dangerous ideology ahead of kids,” Alliance Defending Freedom 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.”

The Colorado Department of Early Childhood “is not aware of any reason the regulations cited in the complaint would have prevented the camp from opening or continuing to operate this summer,” according to its statement.

But Colorado’s gender-identity conditions appear to have been confusing for other residential summer camps for kids.

The YMCA of the Pikes Peak Region, a Christian organization that operates the overnight Camp Shady Brook, has adopted a gender-inclusion policy that allows children and adult staff to use facilities, including cabins, restrooms and showers, that correspond to their gender identity preference.

A camp official told The Gazette last year that they provide an inclusivity model because of state requirements.