Democrats’ Wary Response to Transgender Ruling Shows the Party’s Retreat

Leading Democrats offered a slow trickle of critical reaction on Wednesday to the Supreme Court’s decision upholding a state ban on some transgender care for youths, underscoring the new discomfort on the issue from a party that has long seen itself as a champion of L.G.B.T.Q. Americans.

Hours after the ruling arrived, some top Democrats like Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the minority leader, had denounced the decision as part of a “cruel crusade against trans Americans.”

But many others, including key players in the 2028 shadow primary race, had yet to weigh in. Gov. Gavin Newsom of California was posting on social media about the National Guard. Gov. Josh Shapiro of Pennsylvania had thoughts about housing. Gov. Wes Moore of Maryland shared a celebration of Pride — but said nothing about the major new court ruling.

Even Democrats who condemned the ruling tried to turn the focus to other issues. Mr. Schumer suggested on X that Republicans were using the topic “to divert attention from ripping health care away from millions of Americans.”

The careful calculus reflected how the fraught topic of transgender issues has tormented Democrats for months, with Republicans putting them firmly on the back foot. Many party leaders now believe that liberal politicians took positions in recent years that deviated too far from the beliefs of the average voter.

Last year, Donald J. Trump painted Vice President Kamala Harris as too far to the left by pointing to her past positions on transgender care, including support for taxpayer-funded transition surgeries for prisoners and migrants, which she expressed on a questionnaire during the 2019 presidential campaign. (Mr. Trump elided the fact that appointees in his first administration provided gender-affirming care for a small group of inmates.)