Are Bert and Ernie a same-sex couple?
According to their award-winning Sesame Street writer, yes. According to the non-profit organization behind Sesame Street, no. And that’s a problem.
“I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were” a gay couple, writer Mark Saltzman told Queerty in an exclusive interview.
The Internet over the past few days has exploded – mostly with joy.
The New Yorker reposted a 2013 cover:
Ellen’s executive producer weighed in:
Others expressed their thoughts:
But not everyone is expressing joy. Some conservatives seem to be outraged.
Meanwhile, Sesame Workshop, the folks who actually produce Sesame Street, felt the disturbing need to issue a statement denouncing and denying the news Bert and Ernie are gay and in a relationship.
Their claim doesn’t hold water.
“Bert and Ernie are best friends,” Sesame Workshop states, insisting, “they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”
But that seems to be false, because it’s actually not in keeping with other Sesame Street characters. For example, Clementine is Forgetful Jones’ girlfriend.
And Ingrid and Humphrey are married hoteliers.
Also, Mae, Elmo’s mother, is married to Louie.
Sesame Workshop needs to come up with a better denial, or let Bert and Ernie be gay.
UPDATE: SESAME STREET DELETES TWEET – ISSUES NEW, UPDATED STATEMENT ON BERT AND ERNIE
Image by See-Ming Lee via Flickr and a CC license