Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2018/09/18/bert-and-ernie-are-a-gay-coupl.html
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Bert and Ernie just puppets, says everyone who has ever watched the show…
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I don’t see how those two could be gay, I mean . . . they’ve been wearing the same dull outfits for decades.
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By that logic, Ms. Piggy and Kermit aren’t lovers, which is obviously not true. Therefore, I call bullshit.
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I’d have to go with the statement of the guy who wrote their lines. Besides, it’s been pretty apparent for decades.
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Personally, I didn’t care back when I was a kid (granted I had no concept of gay/straight/ect back then), and I don’t care now.
Also, does it really matter if they are or aren’t? Whenever I see this story come up on the interwebs, to me at least, it just reeks of everyone being that nosy neighbor snooping in other peoples business.
To be fair, If a kid today asks if they are gay and also might be gay themselves asks, it most likely would matter. Especially if they look up to B&E as potential role models.
I think it’s more important what kids growing up with the show can learn from them, than what some grown-ups whisper to each other at the watercooler.
I don’t know. If they are, cool. If they aren’t, cool.
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I’m just waiting for the statement on Timon and Pumbaa.
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Maybe they are gay, but not in a relationship? Though living together is incredibly suspect, it is possible that to afford the rent on sesame street they are simply roommates both of whom happen to be gay. Don’t tell me thats never happened in the history of gaykind.
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I cannot acept that, because as a child they seemed to me to be fellow children.
In fact, they reminded me of my brother and myself — he was uptight, while I was annoying.
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as one of those gay kids, i can totally confirm that it DID and DOES matter. of course, everyone wants to make it about sex, but even as a kid trying to figure myself out, seeing that it was perfectly ok for two males to live together, have fun together, and yes even annoy each other while obviously caring for each other was very much a thing i needed to see.
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Eh, it kind of bothers me people want to interject the “adult” world into Sesame Street. It sorta feels very tabloid-like. They were two best buds who lived together. What kid didn’t want to just live with their best friend instead of their stupid siblings? And they were two buds even though they had different personalities and interests.
Side note, I remember this old couple who lived down the road when I was very little and the lady was named Bert. So her husband had to be Ernie, right?
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Bert and Ernie love each other. It seems that is the point. They are puppets in a show for children. They model a relationship between two males who love each other despite often disagreeing with each other. The show isn’t about sex, so just as we don’t know about Mr Hooper’s sexual fantasies, so too are we left in the dark about those of Bert and Ernie.
It’s sort of the wrong question. Sesame Street isn’t making a statement about whether it’s ok to lust after someone of the same sex (there’s no lusting going on), but it is saying very clearly that it is normal to feel that someone of the same sex is the most important person in the world to you. that actually seems like a more important message, frankly, given the age of the audience. The Frog and Toad books did much the same thing. Ultimately it isn’t about sex, it’s about love.
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This will only mean something to Brits of a certain age, but Bert and Ernie were clearly whatever Eric and Ernie were:
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What matters is that they could be, and that it isn’t a big deal. It’s all just Whatever man!
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There are several acceptable answers to this eternal question.
“Yes, they are a couple” is one of them.
“No, they are not a couple” is another acceptable answer.
“No, they are not a couple, so they are obviously not gay” is an answer that should be left behind in the 20th century.
“Don’t eat cookies in bed” is still good advice.
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Great. Now I want to see Bert and Ernie do this, and I probably never will.
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It’s not the LGB side of LGBT+, but I started showing signs I was transgender when I was two according to my relatives. I could have done with some sign that it was OK when I was a child, instead of living in a world of depression and fear that someone would find out and kick the shit out of me.
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