Bert and Ernie aren't gay???

acaudill75

https://www.today.com/news/bert-ernie-mark-doma-decision-new-yorker-cover-6C10480518#news/bert-ernie-celebrate-doma-decision-new-yorker-cover-6C10480518

My whole sense of right and wrong is f*cked up. I could have sworn B & E were more than friends.

Still, great cover art.

jorkz821

Uhhhhh I thought they were brothers?

acaudill75

I mean, Sesame Street has a puppet whose has a parent in jail. Why can't Ernie and Bert be gay? Sexuality aside, they have had married couples on there. I can't remember if there were ever married puppets, but I imagine there were. They missed out on a great opportunity, IMO.

Hesterlicious

They can't be gay because Muppets don't have genitals.

Hesterlicious

You can't have buttsex if you don't have a butt.

thepretzelchick

Bert and Ernie are the puppet version of The Odd Couple.

acaudill75

Hesterlicious:

You can't have buttsex if you don't have a butt.

Butt, do all gay men have buttsex?

Hesterlicious

acaudill75:

Hesterlicious:

You can't have buttsex if you don't have a butt.

Butt, do all gay men have buttsex?

I'm not quite done asking them all yet.

acaudill75

Hesterlicious:

acaudill75:

Hesterlicious:

You can't have buttsex if you don't have a butt.

Butt, do all gay men have buttsex?

I'm not quite done asking them all yet.

Get back to me on that.

nancy30005

I dunno. 

 

ETA: I can't get the pic to show up. When they're riding off to an adventure on Bert's bed, it looks pretty...evident. 

Maybe someone more savvy can hook me up with a gif?

 

 

LuckyDad

Hesterlicious:

They can't be gay because Muppets don't have genitals.

Ding.

Although, explain Kermit and Miss Piggy? 

acaudill75

Moidonna:

I actually think it's annoying that people assume because two males live together they must be gay.  If Bert and Ernie were gay, I would be the first to support them, but that's not the case.

I had heard that B & E came out several years ago, and I thought, wow, that is cool that SS is taking on that issue. So when I read the SS was actually not taking the opportunity to embrace a gay couple, I was like, oh. Ok. I was a little disappointed that they weren't gay, even if they were never meant to be in the first place.

littlestjerry

krptcmschfmkr128:

Moidonna:

I actually think it's annoy                                 ing that people assume because two males live together they must be gay.  If Bert and Ernie were gay, I would be the first to support them, but that's not the case.

I don't think it's because they live together. I think it's because of the closeness and dynamic of their relationship.

Right, and they share a room and argue like an old married couple. Really, though, I couldn't care less if SS says Bert and Ernie are gay or not. What I do think they should consider is having a character that has gay parents.       

littlestjerry

Moidonna:

Little Jerry:

krptcmschfmkr128:

Moidonna:

I actually think it's annoy                                 ing that people assume because two males live together they must be gay.  If Bert and Ernie were gay, I would be the first to support them, but that's not the case.

I don't think it's because they live together. I think it's because of the closeness and dynamic of their relationship.

Right, and they share a room and argue like an old married couple. Really, though, I couldn't care less if SS says Bert and Ernie are gay or not. What I do think they should consider is having a character that has gay parents.       

Yes, like the Odd Couple. I think that would work if they made it a family of Muppets where the parents were gay. That would be a good lesson for the preschool audience. I think bringing on two Muppets in a gay relationship or marriage without the children angle would be strange.

I've never seen the Odd Couple, so this explains a lot.

But, yeah, preschoolers aren't really aware of their own sexuality, whether it's straight or gay, but they can definitely encounter classmates and stuff who have gay parents. So, that seems more relevant.

Plus, I love the thought of the religious right's brain exploding at SS teaching kids about gross and immoral non-traditional families.  

LuckyDad

Moidonna:

I think they are people Muppets.  Like the guy who always orders soup from Grover and gets mad when he screws up the order. 

Oh, you mean former RNC Chairman Michael Steele?

LuckyDad

Moidonna:

It is odd that they share a bedroom, but maybe they can't afford a two bedroom apartment.  I don't think they have jobs, LOL. 

According to one of DS's books, Ernie is a firefighter, although that may be on a volunteer basis.

Hesterlicious

You guys have way too many questions!

I've spent too much time reading this wiki

https://muppet.wikia.com/wiki/Muppet_Wiki

iheartsippycups

 I don't know 2 straight men that take baths together

Hesterlicious

?

Bert and Ernie, who've been on Sesame Street for 25 years, do not portray a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the future. They are puppets, not humans. Like all the Muppets created for Sesame Street, they were designed to help educate preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to children that despite their differences, they can be good friends.

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- Sesame Workshop's consumer response prepared statement, 1993.

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'They are not gay, they are not straight, they are puppets,' says Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell. 'They don't exist below the waist.'

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- Sesame Street: A Celebration - 40 Years of Life on the Street, p. 47.

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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... they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.

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- Sesame Workshop statement, August 11, 2011 (issued in response to a Change.org petition to have Bert and Ernie marry which circulated shortly after gay marriage was legalized in the state of New York) ^[5]

Hesterlicious

Straight from the horses mouth

 

• "All that stuff about me and Bert? It's not true. We're both very happy, but we're not gay."

- Ernie to students at Carnegie Mellon University, 1997

Hesterlicious

iheartsippycups:

 I don't know 2 straight men that take baths together

Ernie will bath with anybody

 

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6_d22aMqZs

missyishere

Ingrid and Humphrey are the married couple on SS who own the Furry Arms hotel.

LuckyDad

It wouldn't shock me if Bert is a trust fund kid. He's kinda prissy and a bit eccentric. Another possibility is he collects royalties off something, sort of like About A Boy?