Immersed in a battle for a seat in Congress, state Rep. Chris Pringle is immersing himself into one of the nation’s culture wars, unveiling an effort to restrict transgender students from participating in school sports.

And with that comes the criticism from LGBTQ advocates, Democrats and even some of his Republican rivals. They brand Pringle’s bill -- the “Gender is Real Legislative” (GIRL) Act – as a ploy to rile up conservative voters ahead of the March 3 primary.

Pringle’s GIRL Act is similar to bills introduced in Georgia, Tennessee, Missouri, New Hampshire and Washington state. In essence, the drafted measure prohibits students from competing in sports events for genders different from their own, as listed on their birth certificate.

Chris Mosier is one of those dismissive of Pringle’s motives. He’s a world-class transgender athlete and founder of transathlete.com, which tracks state laws and policies affecting that constituency.

He said, simply, “These attacks from lawmakers are targeting young people unnecessarily and are driven by political desires, not a reality of what is actually happening in schools across the country.”

‘Politically motivated’

U.S. Army veteran and political newcomer John Castorani of Fairhope speaks during a political debate on Nov. 21, 2019, at the J.C. Davis Municipal Auditorium in Chickasaw, Ala. Castorani, a Republican, criticized Rep. Chris Pringle's legislation on transgender student athletes as a political ploy that appeals to “a very tiny, archaic and bigoted base of individuals." (John Sharp/jsharp@al.com).

Pringle, in an email to AL.com, said he’s responding to opinions and worries of average folks in Alabama’s 1st Congressional District, long a GOP stronghold. The seat is presently held by Bradley Byrne, R-Fairhope, who is running for the U.S. Senate.

"I’m following President Trump’s lead and standing up to both parties on the issues that South Alabamians care about, regardless of what politicians or liberal activists alike want to call it,” Pringle said. “I am traveling the 1st Congressional District every day and the citizens are concerned about it.”

Of the four other Republicans running for open seat, two have weighed in – Wes Lambert and John Castronai. The front-runners, insofar as fundraising -- former state Sen. Bill Hightower and Mobile County Commissioner Jerry Carl – have not. Carl, last week, declined to comment and Hightower declined to comment Saturday when asked about the political timing of the legislation’s introduction.

Lambert, who lives in Spanish Fort and runs the popular Dumbwaiter restaurants, is mostly supportive of Pringle’s bill, although he certainly questions why it would emerge less than two months from primary election day.

“To argue that male-to-female transgender athletes can compete in women’s sports is disregarding reality,” said Lambert. “Men and women are different and we have learned that in gym class and biology. In our world today, transgender activists are asking the world to pretend otherwise. And, yes, the timing by Mr. Pringle is very politically motivated.”

Castorani, an Army veteran who lives in Fairhope, said Pringle’s bill appeals to “a very tiny, archaic and bigoted base of individuals.”

Castorani made clear that he doesn’t believe any minors should be allowed to transition to a different gender. But he also argued that lawmakers ought to be lasered in on more important matters.

“It is my wish and hope that the Alabama Legislature can reach real education solutions and not feel-good GIRL bills and the National Anthem requirement,” said Castorani, also taking a swipe at Republican state Sen. Gerald Allen’s bill requiring the Star-Spangled Banner to be played daily at all K-12 public schools.

Two of the Democrats running for the congressional seat ripped into Pringle. Mobile’s Rick Collins said that, unlike Pringle, he’s never heard the issue raised on the campaign trail. Spanish Fort’s Kiani Gardner said candidates like Pringle ought to be paying attention to concerns such as “the achievement gap or to ensure that our high school graduates are college and career ready.” She said, “Our representatives are busy banning yoga and legislating ideology while Alabama’s children fall further and further behind every year.”

James Averhart, a third Democrat on the ballot, did not respond to a request for comment.

Both Gardner and Mosier pointed out that the Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) already has a policy that’s similar to the one that Pringle would enact. Mosier called it “one of the most restrictive and worst-ranked policies for high school transgender student-athletes in the country.”

Pringle responded, “The AHSAA is a private organization led by unelected individuals with the ability to change policy as they see fit.” He said, “We need a clear and universal policy that promotes fair competition in school athletics.”

Pringle also noted that his bill also prohibits public schools from hosting athletic events at which a competitor doesn’t match the gender on his or her birth certificate. He said that the AHSSA’s policies do not take such a firm step.

‘Extremely harmful’

LGBTQ activists are dismayed by the bill, but chalk up to election-year politicking.

Transgender student athlete controversies have already wedged themselves into high-profile contests elsewhere, namely Kentucky governor’s race in November.

During that race, a socially conservative group called American Principles for Kentucky paid for an ad that showed two high-school-age girls facing off in a wrestling competition. “All any athlete wants is a fair shot in competition,” an announcer says, followed up with a question, “But what if the rules change?” One of the girls is then replaced by a teenage boy, and the referee announces that he is the winner. The ad follows up with newspaper headlines about transgender athletes, and urges voters to turn out against Democrat Andy Beshears, who would eventually go on to win the gubernatorial election over Republican incumbent Gov. Matt Bevin.

In this Thursday, Feb. 7, 2019 file photo, Cromwell High School transgender athlete Andraya Yearwood, 17, right, braids the hair of teammate Taylor Santos, left, during a break at a track meet at Hillhouse High School in New Haven, Conn. Yearwood's success in sports has become a flash point in a debate over transgender participation in high schools sports. (AP Photo/Pat Eaton-Robb)AP

“We think this type of policy is both sensible and fair,” said Jon Schweppe, director of policy and government affairs with the American Principles Project in Washington, D.C., which is advocating for bills like Pringle’s. “All athletes deserve a level playing field, and ignoring biological reality in favor of completely subjective gender identity risks undermining this fairness, especially for girl athletes who would be forced to compete against biological males.” He cited Connecticut, where two transgender female high-schoolers were victorious in state girls indoor track championships. A conservative group called Alliance Defending Freedom, representing some of the girls who lost out in the track championships, have since filed lawsuits challenging Connecticut’s transgender policy, and arguing that it’s unfair to females.

Last year, Rasmussen Reports released two polls showing that a majority of U.S. adults -- 54% and 51% -- opposed transgender students participating on sports teams of the gender that they identify with.

Still, overall opinions about transgender people are growing more tolerant. According to survey revealed last year by the Public Religions Research Institute, more than six in 10 Americans have become more supportive toward trans rights compared to their views five years ago.

But the polling shows a split among partisans: About three-quarters of Democrats (76%) report they have become more supportive of transgender rights in the last five years, while only 47% of Republicans report the same. Among self-identified conservative Republicans, only 40% say they support transgender rights.

Heather Fann, a family law and LGBTQ-rights attorney at the Five Points Law Firm in Birmingham, said she believes that Pringle’s bill and like efforts appear to be “designed to stoke transphobia and present solutions where real problems do not in truth exist.”

She said the transgender athlete bills are popping up as federal LGBTQ anti-discrimination bills receive publicity. The “Equality Act” passed through the Democratic-controlled U.S. House in May, and could get a hearing this year in the Senate.

Fann and others also said that legislation like the one Pringle is pitching puts cruel pressure on a segment of youths most at risk of being assaulted or pondering suicide. Studies show there is a disparate burden of suicide-related behavior among gender-minority teens in the U.S.

Erin Buzuvis, a professor at Western New England University School of Law in Springfield, Mass., said allowing transgender youths to participate in sports in the categories they identify with helps reduce the suicide risks.

“School sports thus have two choices: to be extremely harmful by invalidating or excluding transgender students or to be extremely helpful by accepting them,” said Buzuvis, who helped author a 2016 model policy for high schools that advocates for transgender athletes to compete in the gender in which they identify.

In Mobile, Terri Osbourne, president of the Southern Transgender Alliance – a support group for the transgender community in South Alabama – said the bill pitched by Pringle is taking an minor issue and “blowing it out of proportion.”

“You are talking about a very, very small percentage of athletes,” said Osbourne, who believes fewer than two students at most large high schools would be faced with the matter.

Osbourne, who is transgender, likened the legislation to North Carolina’s infamous “restroom bill,” which was approved by North Carolina lawmakers in 2016, and required people to use the restroom in public facilities that matched the gender on their birth certificate. Fierce backlash from businesses and sports leagues led to the bathroom portion of the law to be repealed about a year later.

“This is for political points to rouse up the electorate and to go after those transgenders,” said Osbourne.