Get It Straight: Bert & Ernie Are Sexless Friends, Says Sesame Street

A group pushing their gay agenda on the lives of innocent children have tried to sully the sexless friendship of "Sesame Street" puppet pals Bert and Ernie by circulating a petition to have the two guys get married on an episode of the long-running show.

Now Sesame Street has lobbed back via a terse statement issued on their Facebook page, aimed at setting the record straight. Or neutral. Or just not gay.

Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.
Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.

There's not meant to be even a hint of 'mance' between these bros. They are BFFs, not BFs. Sheesh, guys.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@laist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Lindsay William-Ross in Arts & Events on August 11, 2011 2:00 PM

Comments [rss]

Pete

Its extremely fucking wrong to teach small children sexuality. The Simpsons got it right when Nelson called Martin gay and Martin says "I'm not gay, I'm nothing yet!". Sexuality should only be discussed by those who have entered puberty.

Ed Yerke-Robins

Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't all the muppets & monsters on Sesame Street supposed to be children? I know Big Bird's explicitly stated as 6 years old. (There's even a joke about this on the 1989 20th Anniversary special on Netflix Instant. [If you haven't guessed, I'm a parent & am fairly familiar with these characters.]) I want to say Elmo is 4.

Bert & Ernie & Elmo & Big Bird play together nearly every day in Sesame Street books & other media so I'm going to assume they're around the same age (& if not, they should be in school!). If we're going to overthink this, Bert & Ernie aren't even old enough to be married - let alone have any sexual orientation.

PS: Never mind that it's a stupid idea. When so many haters still make the ridiculous claim that marriage equality supporters are trying to "indoctrinate children into the homosexual lifestyle", the last thing any intelligent person who supports marriage equality would want to do is pursue a publicity stunt involving a children's television program.

PPS: Unless this is an elaborate satire, in which case it's so brilliant it suckered me.

Joshiedoozie

Why must everything be sexualized? and then homosexualized? Can't people, or in this case puppets, just be friends without there having to be some sort of sexual connection? What is wrong with this horrid society when this is news, when they are besmirching an innocent kids show with their horrid homosexual agenda....but of course, all in the guise of tolerance and acceptance. Barf!

albert domasin

my bad. the sarcasm went right over my head. maybe because lots of people have expressed the same thoughts (sans sarcasm) on the petition's fb page. thanks for that.

albert domasin

describing the promotion of marriage equality as "pushing a gay agenda" is like describing advocacy for interracial marriage as pushing a black agenda. as far as no hint of a bro-mance, how many roommates prominently hang a portrait of themselves together in their homes as bert and ernie do? and about puppets not having a sexual orientation, how does one explain the affection between kermit and miss piggy, hmmm?
sesame street writes that bert and ernie "were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves". i could not possibly agree more.

RedMercury

how many roommates prominently hang a portrait of themselves together in their homes as bert and ernie do?
Actually, I've lived with someone for about 17 years. There are various pictures of the two of us around the place.

Are you saying that it is impossible that two men could live together, be friends, do things together and not be homosexual? I suppose you also assume that all women who dress in a provocative fashion are prostitutes and all kids with shaved heads are nazis.