Christian summer camp lawsuit prompts religious exemptions from Colorado's gender identity rules

Before the Supreme Court ordered Maryland's Montgomery County Public Schools to let parents opt out their children from gender ideology lessons, that suburban D.C. district allegedly paid a hefty settlement in a separate 2023 lawsuit claiming its staff unconstitutionally silenced a critic of the opt-out ban on social media.

Colorado didn't wait nearly as long before reframing a gender identity policy that Christian summer camps argued would trample their rights, which could have kept the state tied up in court as it prepares to defend a similar policy on therapists at SCOTUS next term. 

The Centennial State held out for about six weeks after Camp IdRaHaJe Association, whose name refers to the hymn, "I’d Rather Have Jesus," sued to block new childcare licensing rules requiring campers to be treated by their gender identity in sleeping arrangements, dressing areas, restrooms and showers – without an explicit religious carveout.

The association's lawyers at the Alliance Defending Freedom dismissed the lawsuit in light of a settlement with the leaders of the Colorado Department of Early Childhood and its Division of Early Learning Licensing and Administration that explicitly exempts from the new rules IdRaHaJe and all other places "principally used for religious purposes." 

"The Department will not cite, suspend its license, revoke its license, or otherwise take enforcement action against the Camp based on alleged noncompliance" with the gender identity rules, because IdRaHaJe is "not a covered entity" or a "place of public accommodation" based on its asserted religious purpose, the settlement reads.

CDEC issued an "information memo" June 20 that clarifies the Colorado Anti-Discrimination Act is only applicable to licensed child care facilities that are places of public accommodation and claims it has "never interpreted or enforced" the rules beyond those places, despite IdRaHaJe claiming that CDEC twice rejected its religious-exemption proposal.

"In addition to this memo, CDEC is currently considering amending the rule language for further clarification," the memo says. 

"State officials must respect religious ministries and their beliefs about human sexuality; they can’t force a Christian summer camp to violate its convictions," ADF legal counsel Andrea Dill said, while noting the camp accepts "children from all backgrounds and beliefs." 

Asked for exemption, state told camp to 'seek legal counsel'

The division updated an administrative guide for "children's resident camps" to specify that "churches, synagogues, mosques, or any other place that is principally used for religious purposes" are not required to subject girls to gender-confused boys, and vice versa, in their restrooms, showers, tents, bunks and undressing facilities.

The settlement and updated guide suggest CDEC's policy against giving "advisory opinions" – legally nonbinding decisions rendered outside a specific case – led IdRaHaJe to believe it would risk enforcement unless it complied with the new rules.

In response to the camp's written comment seeking a religious exemption, CDEC said the rules comply with Colorado Civil Rights Commission regulations and suggested IdRaHaJe "seek legal counsel for additional clarification." 

The four newly updated sections referring to gender identity in the administrative guide each end with a disclaimer: "The Department does not provide advisory opinions about whether an entity is covered by CADA."

CDEC Director of Communications Carolyn Romero confirmed to Just the News that its guidance to seek legal counsel refers to its practice of not issuing advisory opinions on CADA and places of public accommodation.

"Camp IdRaHaJe did not submit a formal waiver request," she wrote in an email. "Rather, it submitted general feedback to proposed amendments to a rule that had been promulgated in 2018" and made "general references to 'religious camps.'"

"The Department’s response to these statements made in a public forum was that the rules incorporate CADA, and that applicability should be assessed by legal counsel. That is not a denial" of an exemption request, Romero said.

LGBTQ staff group plausibly 'state actors with actual authority to speak'

America First Legal crowed Wednesday about its "six-figure settlement" with MCPS over the social media blocking of conservative writer and local resident Bethany Mandel for criticizing the district's ban on parental opt-out from LGBTQ lessons for children, which followed a scathing court ruling against the district last fall.

U.S. District Judge Paula Xinis refused to dismiss the social-media allegations because members of MCPS Staff Pride, which represents the district's LGBTQ staff and whose X account blocked Mandel, are plausibly "state actors with actual authority to speak on behalf of MCPS on issues that matter to the LGBTQIA+ staff and community."

The judge also denied Staff Pride members qualified immunity from personal liability because they violated "clearly established" 2019 legal precedent that MCPS itself acknowledged – a 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruling that "public officials violate an individual’s free speech right by blocking access to media accounts because of the individual’s expressed viewpoints."

MCPS Staff Pride, whose X account still shows up in Brave search results but no longer exists on the platform, apparently rebranded three years ago as "P.R.I.D.E Educators."

AFL posted only the first page of the settlement, however, which an April 9 "settlement order" in the court docket shows was reached more than two months earlier. 

That page does not specify the settlement amount or other terms, which AFL said also requires Staff Pride to unblock Mandel, amend its social media policy to prohibit viewpoint discrimination by MCPS employees and require them to certify their compliance with the policy. AFL did not respond to requests for a copy of the full settlement.

"Those with radical agendas may be in charge of our public school systems, but the vast majority of Americans oppose their enforced ideology and their ability to speak critically on these issues is the key to returning our schools to normalcy," AFL senior advisor Ian Prior said.