Yahoo News Bert and Ernie aren't gay, says Sesame Workshop
Sesame Street’s producers and puppeteering legend Frank Oz have denied that Bert and Ernie are gay, after one of the show’s writers said that’s how they were written.
Mark Saltzman, who worked on the children’s show, says that he based his writing on his own relationship with film editor Arnold Glassman.
“I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were,” Saltzman told Queerty, on being asked whether the characters were gay, a matter which has become a long-standing debate.
“I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them. I don’t think I’d know how else to write them, but as a loving couple.”
The makers of Sesame Street are not so sure, however.
“Bert and Ernie are best friends,” they said in a statement, the very same statement it released in 2011 in response to an online petition calling for the pals to marry.
“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.”
Tweeting, Frank Oz chimed in: “It seems Mr. Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & Ernie are gay. It’s fine that he feels they are. They’re not, of course. 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.”
It seems Mr. Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & Ernie are gay. It's fine that he feels they are. They're not, of course. 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.
— Frank Oz (@TheFrankOzJam) September 18, 2018
Asked by one follower why he felt the need to define the friends as straight, he added: “For honesty.”
Salztman also discussed the lumbering, melancholy Snuffleupagus in the interview.
“He’s the sort of clinically depressed Muppet,” he said.
“You had characters that appealed to a gay audience. And Snuffy, this depressed person nobody can see, that’s sort of Kafka! It’s sort of gay closeted too.”
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