I had absolutely no intention of writing this article. A few days ago, someone told me about the online petition asking Sesame Workshop to allow Bert and Ernie to marry. It was just some silly thing someone started that would probably just die out after a few days. But then more people started tweeting and blogging about it, and then the philosophical and ethical discussions began, and then Sesame Workshop found it big enough to actually issue an official response.
Before I go on, let’s just say this: Bert and Ernie are not gay. They sleep in separate beds, they have the emotional maturity of children, and oh yeah, they don’t exist below the waist. And that doesn’t even take into consideration Bert’s behind-the-scenes love affair with Connie Stevens.
Sesame Workshop, being ever so professional, issued a response to these petition-signers. From their official Facebook page:
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 (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.
But who am I to tell you whether or not to sign a petition?? Feel free to sign or join their Facebook page, and then maybe we can get a little less focus on who Bert wants to sleep with and more on, like, numbers and letters and stuff.
Click here to skip the proposal on the ToughPigs forum!
by Joe Hennes – Joe@ToughPigs.com
