The nature of Bert and Ernie's relationship has been the source of much speculation for years. He added: 'Although it doesn't matter to me if someone is gay or viewed as gay, I learned it does matter to a great many people who feel they are not represented enough.' 'Having the flexibility to see them (as gay) was good for me, and the more voices I see CONFIRMING that they DEFINITELY ARE NOT is what makes me said,' one Twitter user posted.īert and Ernie made an appearance on one of the most memorable New Yorker covers in history in the wake of SCOTUS' marriage equality ruling (above in July 2013 This prompted a number of people to lash out at Oz about the importance of having gay and lesbian characters on television. But why that question? Does it really matter? Why the need to define people as only gay? There's much more to a human being than just straightness or gayness.' Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & Ernie are gay. 'Bert and Ernie were created to be best friends, and to teach young children that people can get along with those who are very different from themselves.'īert and Ernie were initially the creation of Jim Henson and Frank Oz, with the puppets said to have been analogs for the friendship between those two men, who were both heterosexual. It's a place were people of all cultural and backgrounds are welcome,' it read. 'Sesame Street has always stood for inclusion and acceptance. Oz said he doesn't care if someone is gay or viewed as gay but said Bert and Ernie are not homosexual characters Sesame Workshop, the nonprofit behind Sesame Street, released a statement earlier this week denying the characters are gay. Saltzman went on to say that thinks Sesame Street should add a gay couple, but thinks they should be human characters and not puppets. Saltzman now insists it was just one big misunderstanding. While speaking with the Times, however, Saltzman said that he and Glassman shared similarities with Bert and Ernie in that they were opposites who found a way to love each other.įollowing the writer's comments to Queerty, the internet went crazy with praise and anger over the idea of Bert and Ernie being in a same-sex relationship. Saltzman also told the outlet that people would refer to him and his partner Arnold Glassman, who died in 2003, as Bert and Ernie and he wrote the characters as 'a loving couple'. I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them.' 'And I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were. Sesame Workshop immediately denied the puppets are a gay couple, saying in a statement they are simply best friends
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