California pre-k teacher says 'childhood innocence' is a myth, teaches 'sexuality' to toddlers

A California pre-kindergarten teacher and professor of early childhood development has publicly espoused the disturbing views that childhood innocence is a "myth," arguing that babies have sexual "preferences" at as early as three months old, and that not having conversations about "queerness" with toddlers is "very white, Christian, upper-class, cis-gendered, and hetero-centric."

William "Willy" Villalpando, who taught pre-k from 2016 through at least June 2021 in the Rialto Unified School District according to the latest date California updated teacher records, also teaches a class on early childhood development at Santa Ana College, according to Fox News.



On his Instagram account, which has since been deleted after Fox's report, Villalpando posted about his mission to destroy the idea that children are too innocent to learn about sexuality and gender-queer topics.

Under the username "mrwilly_prek," the early childhood educator wrote, "There is a common mythology that children live in this world of pure innocence, and that by introducing or exposing them to the real-world adults are somehow shattering this illusion for them. Therefore, there is a banning of topics and issues that children should not be exposed to, as if they are not experiencing them already."

In another instance of denouncing the innocence of children, Villalpando said "I'm tired of the 'Childhood Innocence' argument… Stop blaming a phenomenon that doesn't exist." 

The teacher also denigrated the popular stance that young kids shouldn't be taught about sexuality, labeling the view as "very white, Christian, upper-class, cis-gendered, and hetero-centric."

According to Villalpando, "Not talking about Queerness in the Classroom, is NOT Letting Children be Children. It's Telling Those people They Do Not Deserve to Exist,."

"Kids are never too young" to learn about "queerness," the teacher declared.

"Let's work to deconstruct some of our own biases. (Adults incorrectly link discussions on sexuality and gender as equating to discussions about sex.)," he wrote on Instagram.

In a statement to Fox News, Rancho Santiago Community College District, which offers adult education certificates through Santa Ana College, asserted that they do "not condone any form of attack on 'childhood innocence.'"

"Our RSCCD community college courses in Child Development and Education Studies do not address nor teach gender studies," the community college district stated.

In a November 2022 installment of the LGBTQ+ podcast "Rainbow Parenting," entitled "Queer Teachers Rock!", Villalpando said "we have so many people who tell us that this is inappropriate stuff we can talk about. And so I'm like, hey, no, we can't talk about this."

The preschool instructor also said that if parents didn't want to talk about certain mature topics with their children, it was up to teachers such as himself to have those discussions that "may make others uncomfortable." 

"Children who are exposed to environments with more fluid understandings of gender, are more likely to understand that gender is fluid," he said.

"Parents haven't already had conversations about these things with their kids, that kids don't know, that they might be intersex, that they might be agender... non-binary. And really, children have a right to see themselves in our classrooms. It's not okay to just forget about them or push them out just because it might make us uncomfortable or may make others uncomfortable."

Villalpando added that these talks about gender and sexuality go alongside with "teaching children to ask others for their pronouns."

"Trust me when I say children get this so much faster than adults give them credit for. Let kids practice with you," he said.

"[C]hildren are exploring and understanding gendered association before they say their first words," he continued, before making the disturbing statement that "Around 3 to 4 months old, infants [sic] show a sex and gender preference in who they look at."

"At 3 years old, a child can label their perceived gender identity," he continued. "By 4 years old, children have a stable sense of their gender identity and have assumptions and beliefs of what they can and cannot do based on their gender (i.e. dolls are for girls, cars are for boys)."

After Fox reached out to Villalpando, they reported that his social media accounts went "dark."

"I say he needs his hard drives checked by law enforcement," wrote former Republican congressional candidate Robby Starbuck.

"I can assure you Mr. Villalpando would not be anywhere near my pre-K child," wrote one Twitter user. "@SantaAnaCollege should take a closer look at his activities. Childhood innocence is something that should be respected. Stop forcing gender and sexuality on them."

"In other words, they’re going to sexualize your child and make them Social Justice Warriors," wrote another commenter.