Sesame Street, as most people know, is a hugely popular children’s television that first aired in 1969.
After 48 seasons the show continues to air and has not only given us some of the most iconic characters in children’s programming, but has also influenced children of all ages to laugh, play and learn.
Of course, no show can exist for 50 years without accumulating some form of controversy, and throughout its run the show has had to address the sexual identity of some of its more iconic characters.
Are best friends, and roommates, Bert and Ernie a gay couple?
For the longest time the answer has been “no”. That is until Mark Saltzman, a former writer for the show, claimed in an interview with LGBT news publication QUEERTY* that his inspiration for writing Bert and Ernie came from his own experiences with his life partner.
“I don’t think I know how else I’d write them, but as a loving couple,” Saltzman said.
What started as a simple recognition of where one’s inspiration came from, became a viral talking point that went on to trend on Twitter. The world treated this like an official coming out for Bert and Ernie.
Many were pleased, some were appalled, but all had something to say of the characters that have stood the test of time.
To break up the discussion was show creator Frank Oz, who released a tweet confirming that his characters were indeed not in a relationship.
“It seems Mr. Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert and Ernie are gay,” Oz wrote. “It’s fine that he feels they are. They’re not, of course.”
This spawned a whole debate. Many argued that because they are puppets they could not have a sexual orientation, while some responded that Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy have a relationship. So why can only heteronormative relationships be made the exception?
This can be chalked up to a long history of erasure and burial of the LGBT identity in media, and it’s perfectly understandable that people would be upset that such iconic characters couldn’t be a good representation for a marginalized group of people.
The characters display a lot of tendencies that one can attribute to a couple: they share a room, they take baths in each other’s presence and they often tell each other they love each other.
Nothing would make the LGBT community happier than having such a loving, positive and child friendly representation of a gay relationship in such a legendary piece of television history.
However, this isn’t to say that the current interpretation of the relationship status of Bert and Ernie isn’t valuable.
The Sesame Workshop, the company that produces the show, later tweeted in response to the debate online.
“Sesame Street has always stood for inclusion and acceptance. It’s a place where people of all cultures and backgrounds are welcome. 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,” they tweeted.
Regardless of sexual orientation, Bert and Ernie are still an excellent representation of being able to have a loving friendship and co-exist with people that are different from yourself.
Even as just friends, the characters still take steps against heteronormativity and toxic masculinity.
In a society where men are demanded to be tough, never show emotion and treat other men as competition, Bert and Ernie buck that trend.
These two colorful puppets teach that you can be a duo of males, say “I love you,” and have a loving platonic relationship without any pressure of what society deems you should do as a male.
If we wanted to go one step further, maybe we can have both of them be gay, but they aren’t even in a relationship. We have an issue of tokenism and forcing people onto each other when they’re gay and have only that in common.
Plenty of LGBT people are friends with other people of the community without having any romantic intention whatsoever. Representation of that in media is missing and would be greatly appreciated.
At the end of the day, what should be appreciated is that Bert and Ernie are universally adored characters that have a healthy loving relationship and inspire people to be better to the people in their life while encouraging young children to treat people with respect and love.
If believing they are gay makes you feel better, then do so. Art is always up for interpretation and it can be whatever you want. If them being just friends does it for you, barring homophobia of course, then do that. Regardless, they’re doing their job of being a role model and helping people be more comfortable with themselves.