Watch: Teachers Step Up to Denounce 'Don't Say Gay'

Florida's "Don't Say Gay" bill has got teachers concerned – and they're speaking out against the measure, Good Morning America reported.

"Karla Hernández-Mats, the president of United Teachers of Dade, a local union that represents 30,000 employees of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, told 'GMA' she has heard from both teachers and parents" who are concerned about the bill, the news show said.

"Teachers find it ludicrous that we're being used as scapegoats because, first of all, teachers don't teach children to be gay. That's absurd," Hernández-Mats said, before "pointing out that sexual education is not a part of the existing K-3 curriculum in the state," GMA relayed.

The measure makes targets of school staff by encouraging parents to bring suit if they feel the "Don't Say Gay" law has been broken.

GMA recounted that the bill's vague wording specifies that "instruction...on sexual orientation or gender identity may not occur in kindergarten through grade 3," and adds that such "instruction" may not take place "in a manner that is not age appropriate or developmentally appropriate for students in accordance with state standards."

Teachers worry that the broad language of the bill will create a situation in which students in all grades will be subjected to silencing, bullying, and erasure.

"Meghan Mayer, a public school teacher in North Port, Florida, shared a TikTok video with her perspective, saying in part, 'Public education in America is under attack,'" GMA detailed.

Mayer's post added that lawmakers are "now going after our most vulnerable student population, our LGBTQ+ students. These students already face a higher rate of bullying and are at higher risk of suicide as compared to their straight, cisgender peers."

Added Mayer: "As a Florida educator and honestly as a parent in Florida, I'm feeling pretty helpless." Even so, she encouraged "viewers to vote with their wallets and boycott corporations that have donated to lawmakers behind the 'Don't Say Gay' bill."

One large company that has drawn wrath for its financial backing of the bill's ant-LGBTQ+ lawmakers is Disney, which gave those legislators money but was then slow to denounce the bill. That early lack of action has upset Disney employees, who are reportedly planning walkouts in protest.

The measure, which was passed last week and now awaits the signature of Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, is formally known as "Parental Rights in Education," with state Rep. Joe Harding, one of the Republican lawmakers who sponsored the measure, insisting that the bill will stop "a school district deciding they're going to create a curriculum to insert themselves" into the education of children.

Hernández-Mats brushed aside such rationalizations, saying, "We know that the curriculum for every school in Florida is set by the Florida Department of Education."

"So we understand that this is an attack on teachers, an attack on students, an attack on their freedom," Hernández-Mats added. "Despite these attacks, we're gonna keep on pushing forward."

To watch the Good Morning America news clip, follow this link.