In between handling “emergency” appeals regarding President Donald Trump’s frenetic agenda, the U.S. Supreme Court must address its regular docket. The panel’s latest case deserves attention for a number of reasons.

On Tuesday, the justices heard arguments in a dispute between parents and a Maryland school district that uses LGBTQ-themed instruction in the lower grades. The controversy arose in 2022 when the state’s largest district, in Montgomery County, adopted a curriculum that promotes “one-sided transgender ideology,” encourages “gender transitioning” and focuses “excessively on romantic infatuation,” according to the parents.

For example, one storybook for the kids focused on transgender bathrooms, another on a same-sex romance between two girls. Teachers were told to instruct students that doctors simply “guess about our gender” at birth.

The parents requested that they be allowed to have their children “opt out” of such teachings. District officials refused, though the district had adhered to such a policy regarding sex education classes.

Indeed, this became a point of emphasis for several justices. “The plaintiffs here are not asking the school to change its curriculum,” Justice Samuel Alito said during arguments. “They’re just saying, ‘Look, we want out.’ Why isn’t that feasible? What is the big deal about allowing them to opt out of this?”

Even one liberal justice expressed sympathy with the parents. These are “young kids’ picture books and on matters concerning sexuality,” Justice Elena Kagan said. “I suspect there are a lot of nonreligious parents who weren’t all that thrilled about this.”

Attorneys for the district argued unconvincingly that opt-outs are difficult to oversee. But they gave away the game by insisting that letting parents pull their children from such instruction might expose the remaining students “and their families to social stigma and isolation.” Apparently woke indoctrination is necessary to ensure that nobody gets their feelings hurt.

But of greater importance: Why is the district allowing sensitive, sexually themed material to be part of the curriculum for pre-K children and elementary school students at all? Who believes this is appropriate for 5-year-olds? And can we bury the nonsense offered by progressives that fears about woke instruction infiltrating elementary schools is a right-wing fantasy?

Is it any wonder that many of the nation’s public school systems are in disarray when, rather than focus on teaching children the basic academic building blocks that will help them become productive adults, they devote time to controversial gender instruction for children who only recently became potty-trained?

The court should side with the protesting parents — and if ever there were a case that highlighted the need for school choice, this is it.

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