Agitators from Official Street Preachers bearing signs and megaphones gathered on the sidewalk outside of McCallum during eighth period on Tuesday as they shouted anti-trans and anti-abortion rhetoric. Because the agitators stood along Sunshine Drive inches from school property, authorities said the hour-long demonstration operated within the group’s First Amendment right to protest.

Shortly before dismissal, principal Andy Baxa announced over the intercom that the bell would ring on schedule. He urged students to ignore the demonstration. 

“Do not give them that power,” Baxa said. “Get on your bus and go home.”

Despite this instruction, a crowd of students formed around the agitators with many recording on their phones and shouting. Some students who engaged were personally insulted by the agitators. Sophomore Aristotle Balsimo was one of them. 

Balsimo left school early for a phone appointment in his mother’s car. While on the call, he saw the demonstrators arrive at McCallum.

“At first I thought it was going to be a peaceful protest, but then I saw their shirts and I read their signs,” Balsimo said.

Messages on the signs spread misinformation and falsehoods about abortion, birth control and the transgender community, with phrases like “Abortion and birth control cause cancer” and “Transgenders: liars, insane, psychotic, murderers, women haters.”

Balsimo’s mother then exited the car to inform the front office about the events unfolding on the sidewalk. When she returned, she addressed the agitators. 

“She went up to them and said they should be ashamed of themselves and [that] they should get off the property,” Balsimo said. 

In response, the agitators began shouting, saying “You’re going to hell” and “God hates you.” 

“I got out and was yelling to defend my mom, and they called me a f*ggot,” Balsimo said.

Undeterred, Balsimo made a sign, which he held up while running up and down the sidewalk to encourage drivers to honk their horns in an attempt to drown out the speech being amplified by the megaphone.

“I was told not to engage with them, but I’m not just going to sit around and do nothing,” Balsimo said. “What they’re doing is wrong and I need to feel safe at my school.”

AISD police, teachers and admin made an informal barrier in front of the agitators once students were released at 4:35. 

Witnessing the demonstration from the main entrance during their end-of-day off period, senior Viv Chang felt fear, not for herself but for younger LGBTQ+ Mac students.

“A lot of them are very visibly queer and that’s awesome, that’s amazing,” Chang said. “But they’re also so young that I don’t think a lot of them have seen this kind of stuff in the real world.”

Chang acknowledges the accepting McCallum community but said that the support systems at school won’t be able to erase the potential harm caused by the demonstration. 

“It gets under your skin, even if you try not to focus on it,” Chang said. “It bleeds into your being.”

Some students were frustrated with the administration’s response and felt that more could have been done. 

“I saw them [admin, police, teachers] just standing there instead of trying to get those men off the school,” said junior Jimena Torres in an Instagram comment under MacJ’s initial breaking news post. “They did nothing to get them off.”

Since the sidewalk on Sunshine Drive is public property, police and school officials were not at liberty to remove the agitators. A possible caveat would have been proving that the group’s megaphone was audible inside the building and disrupting the learning environment in accordance with Texas Education Code 37.124. This statute still only allows the removal of the megaphone, not the individuals themselves. 

Science teacher Margaret Smith arrived at the front of the school as soon as she received word of the situation. 

“I help with crisis stuff on campus, so I put myself up front because I know I can help students who are irate, as they rightfully would be,” Smith said. 

Smith shared the anger expressed by students. 

“I like being at McCallum because we’re so open and accepting, and our students are allowed to express themselves and learn who they are in every way,” Smith said. “I am angry that someone who knows nothing about McCallum, nothing about our students, nothing about what we do here, thinks they can show up and make a scene like this and make students feel uncomfortable in their own school. I just get mad when people mess with my kids.”

After the agitators dispersed and students and teachers left for the day, Baxa sent an email to the McCallum community, clarifying the situation and reassuring parents that measures were taken to protect students. 

“I want to emphasize that these hateful messages are in direct opposition to our values here at McCallum and to the values of our district,” Baxa said. “Austin ISD is committed to creating a safe, supportive and inclusive environment for all students and staff.”

Baxa also shared his empathy toward the students affected by the demonstration. 

“My heart hurts for our students tonight who had to endure the vile things being said this afternoon,” Baxa told MacJournalism. “I love McCallum in part because of its culture of kindness and acceptance. We will not allow the hateful things said by a small group of people [to] derail our views and beliefs.”

Determined to prevent similar demonstrations from happening in the future, Balsimo started a petition calling for a change to laws concerning protests near public schools.

“As awful as it sounds, I’m prepared for it to happen again,” Balsimo said. 

Other students also made a stand against the agitators. Link Crew leaders made posters in support of LGBTQ+ students and hung them throughout the hallways. Teachers provided sidewalk chalk so students could decorate the space occupied by the agitators with rainbows and supportive messages. 

“It was really cool to see people come together so quickly after what happened,” said senior Darin Fowler, who participated in the chalk drawing. “What happened on Tuesday was absolutely disgusting. I forgot how ignorant and uneducated people could be.”

Wednesday afternoon, students and school officials became concerned that the agitators would return following a post on the group’s Facebook. 

Preventative measures were taken to minimize a potential audience. Fourth-period teachers with planning periods were asked to man the hallways and block off the main entrance. Bus commuters were sent to Houston Street.

Police officers patrolled Sunshine, but on the corner of Houston, a crowd gathered. McCallum parents held up signs and waved PRIDE flags, attempting to replace the previous day’s messages of hate with messages of love. The streets were once again filled with the sounds of yelling and car horns honking, this time in support of the LGBTQ+ community. 

Former McCallum teacher and current McCallum parent Nikki Northcutt organized the meetup. 

“I just posted on the parent page ‘I’m going to be here. Happy to be alone but would love some company!’ and then these people all showed up,” Northcutt said.

Northcutt feels that the right path forward is to continue vocal activism. 

“Silence is not gonna work,” Northutt said. “We also need to be positive and showing support and that’s literally the only reason I’m here. If one kid in there sees these parents and feels validated then it’s worth it.”

Senior Keegan Sarwate joined the parents, wearing a transgender PRIDE flag over his shoulders. When Tuesday’s events unfolded, Sarwate was stressed and shocked.

Today, he focused on positivity and community. 

“I don’t have anything to say to the people who were here because people are going to be hateful no matter what you do,” Sarwate said. “It gets really difficult to think that people are behind you a lot of times when stuff like that happens, but just seeing how quickly this got put together, there is so much support.”

—with reporting by Lillian Gray, Lanie Sepehri and Ingrid Smith