WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court returns to the bench on Monday to start a term that will be studded with major cases on gay and transgender rights, immigration, abortion, guns and religion. The rulings will arrive by June, in the midst of an already divisive presidential campaign.

That will thrust a court that has tried to keep a low profile back into the center of public attention. “It’s a very exciting term,” Lisa S. Blatt, a lawyer with Williams & Connolly, said. “Although the court will carry on with a sense of normalcy, it will be hard for them to ignore the polarization in the country on the issues of abortion, L.G.B.T. rights, guns and ‘Dreamers.’”

The spotlight will shine on three justices in particular.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., who by many measures sits at the court’s ideological center, has been increasingly outspoken in defending the court against charges that it is at bottom a political institution. The court’s rulings in the high-profile cases this term may test that assertion.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, the 86-year-old leader of the court’s liberal wing, announced this summer that she had been treated for a fourth bout with cancer before starting a demanding speaking tour. Nervous liberals hope that she will remain on the court long enough to allow a Democratic president to name her successor.