This week a petition started going around online asking that the Sesame Workshop (ie. The Children’s Television Workshop) afford the Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie a same-sex marriage. Anyone with any passing knowledge of Sesame Street should know that Bert and Ernie have been same-sex living partners/roommates for decades so petitioners were hoping that the powers that be might legitimize their relationship by having them get married. The Sesame Workshop responded to the petition with an official message on their official Facebook profile. Click below to read what they have to say.
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.
Hee hee … nice try, petitioners. I mean … I am all for same-sex marriage rights but I think it’s a bit silly to try and get puppets to marry in a committed relationship. I love that Bert and Ernie are BFFs who love, care and support one another and there is no need for anything else. That being said, if Sesame Street would like to introduce characters that exhibit characteristics that exemplify the equal treatment of all people, I’d be all for it. Let’s just leave Bert and Ernie alone, shall we? They are perfectly fine with the relationship they already enjoy :D
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When I read about this …I was furious!!…the children who watch sesame street are just/toddlers…they don’t know anything or even think about anything sexual….my boys grew up watching sesame street….they are like cartoons..meant to teach and enjoy and to make children laugh…this is the only time in their life where they are completely innocent……let’s leave it this way and let them enjoy what little time of innocence that childhood brings…
Why furious? What if another set of puppets on there were married (a traditional male/female couple). Would you be furious over that too?
What would you say to your children if one of their classmates had a gay couple as parents? It is a relevant issue for children today as gay marriage is legal in some states and gay couples are frequently adopting.
@norma — Sesame Street features heterosexual married couples like Maria and Luis. Is that sexual? I don’t understand why people immediately think that same-sex marriage is a sex thing. It’s about love and commitment … life sharing.
COMPLETELY agree with you Trent – people need to stop confusing sex with sexuality. Sex IS a part of sexuality, however I’m betting that Maria and Luis (who are straight) don’t have sex [haven't watched Sesame Street in about 20 years so I may be wrong - SS might have gotten all progressive on me without me noticing :P].
@Simon — Maria and Luis did have at least one baby “on the show” so the sex is, at the very least, implied.
I agree with Norma. Puppets should be a reflection of childish innocence – without relationships at all. Why should a 5-year-old be thinking about having a boyfriend/girlfriend/husband/wife? I know my 7-year-old son doesn’t think that way. His friends have parents in all combinations, and it’s just normal to him (thank goodness), but his toys aren’t dating each other, for Pete’s sake! Now, if a relationship of any combination organically presents itself on the show, as did Maria’s and Luis’s over years and years, then fine, let them get married. But why are people so worked up over a couple of puppets? Let the focus be on the real people everywhere who should be getting married but can’t!
I was going to agree with you, and then remembered Kermit and Miss Piggy. Who may not be part of Sesame Street but are puppets who got married.
But you know what’s funny about the Kermit and Piggy comment? When I was little, I distinctly remember finding the whole Piggy and Kermit love thing kind of gross and annoying =P I just wanted to watch them sing and dance and do funny stuff.
Thank god they didn’t get married and have kids…Them kids would have some awful hair!!
Tee hee hee! :D
@Mr. Gyllenhaal — LOL
If muppets can’t get married, nor do they have a sexual orientation, that’s fine. I would then support one of the human characters (perhaps Alan?) being presented as gay, with a boyfriend or husband. I would love for my preschooler to see a gay couple on her favorite show, plant the seeds in her mind that there is nothing out of the ordinary about it, because love is love, regardless of the gender of the couple :)
Exactly how I feel…my partner and I have two children and we would love for them to see images of families like ours on tv…it doesn’t have to be on Sesame Street per se, but I want them to know that when we say we are a normal family, they can see it for themselves in the world beyond our own set of friends and family.
When I read about this yesterday I thought it was a little ridiculous, not the actual premise of Seasame Street at some point having a same-sex couple but of changing the dynamics of Bert and Ernie’s relationship. The reason this particular petition seemed ridiculous to me is that for as long as Seasame Street has been on the air, their main purpose, aside from teaching basic education like numbers, letters, colors is to facilitate among young children the growth of friendships and cooperation even in the face of differences. That right there is the basis of Bert and Ermie’s exsistance on the show; they bug the crap out of each other but still manage to be friends AND share living quaters. To have changed their relationship status would have required changes that would have been complex. How would they have illustrated and explained the change since EVEN among the opposite-sex couples on the show there are no plainly obvious outward signs or references to their marriage except that they have a child together.
My 4 yr old understands that adults that love each other share beds. And being that she also understands that loving, committed adults marry each other, she would question why Bert and Ernie don’t share a bed. I would not want her thinking that just because Bert and Ernie are gay and don’t share the same bed that they love each other any less than opposite-sex couples. If this was something that people were serious about introducing into Seasame Street, it should have a petition to create a new neighbor that arrived who happened to be in a same-sex relationship. So that when that new neighbor does the ‘meet and greet’ with the other humans and the puppets it could be simply explained as another normal example of human partnership.
OK. That is my 2 cents. :)
I’ve spent way too much time thinking about this. I think it will be great to include a same sex couple on sesame street (whether puppet or human, though personally I think human would make it more impactful) but it should be a new couple instead of changing the relationship of established characters. To be honest as a child I always thought they were brothers, so it would be weird.
Generations have loved the show as it is. If you want same-sex puppet partners, get off your ass and produce your own damn show.
They. Are. Puppets!
This is absolutely ridiculous. It seems that lately EVERYTHING has to be about marriage equality. Why can’t Bert & Ernie exist as the 2 asexual fabric constructs they are?! To my knowledge, no other muppets on that show are married… or even dating, what makes them so special?
Like everything else in this world, there is a time & place for every discussion. Why must everything somehow turn into a platform for the gay community? I’m actually starting to feel like this marriage equality stuff is being forced down my throat, pun intended. Something like this paints the picture that the average gay person is “me-me-me-I-I-I” all the time. Sesame Street is about teaching kids the basics… the alphabet, counting & math… not about taxes, credit-swap defaults, health insurance, global warming or gay marriage. IMO, the basics are things you need to know if you’re stranded on a desert island. Knowing that Bert & Ernie is a married gay couple will do nothing to help.
I understand the desire for marriage equality, but on Sesame Street?! C’mon! Yes Maris & Luis are married, however they are not made of fabric, they’re actual, real, live people. I’d be fine with a (human) married gay couple on Sesame Street, but imposing something serious like marriage on puppets not only makes a mockery of the marriage vows, but also is just plain silly. I imagine the creators of Sesame Street decided to use mainly puppets instead of humans because it would allow them to focus on the basics without being weighed down with nonsense like this… Oh well…
Honestly, if I were gay I would NOT want Bert & Ernie to be gay because in a way makes the whole subject seems silly & trivial.
“Why must everything somehow turn into a platform for the gay community? I’m actually starting to feel like this marriage equality stuff is being forced down my throat, pun intended. Something like this paints the picture that the average gay person is “me-me-me-I-I-I” all the time.”
THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU!! My thoughts EXACTLY. I mean, I am not opposed or against gay relationships or marriage but I do NOT need to be hearing about everyday 2minutes or have childhood long standing shows changing characters and their relationships in order to support to movement further. I personally don’t think their is anyhing wrong with explain to young children that people love people…sometimes that means 2 men or 2 women love each other…but on Sesame Street? NO…its mean for learning the basics of life…cooperation, friendship, healthy eating, counting, spelling…not gay marriage and gay rights.
there*
I’m gay and I think for them to be “married ” is inappropriate Why are people trying to introduce this to such a young audience.
** http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yYM6J1l-1sY **
I grew up watching this show and I always thoughts that Bert and Ernie were just friends, if anything brothers! I would not be happy if they decided to have them ‘marry’ so I am happy that it was just a rumor. Not because I’m opposed to same sex marriage, but because they are puppets and their whole purpose is to teach kids how to get along, NOT to teach them about different types of relationships. Sure, some of the human characters on the show are married, but for a child/toddler watching that, that is something very familiar to them. Not to mention, the married human couples tend to have a very platonic marriage…more of a close friendship if anything.
Thinking of Bert and Ernie getting married makes me gag in the same way as thinking about siblings having sex does. They are buddies and that’s it. End of story. The puppets aren’t there for realism anyway. A grouch who lives in a garbage can? A monster who eats nothing but cookies? I would hate to see Grouch sleeping on a cot at the mission or someone forcing Cookie Monster to eat three veggies before he gets a cookie. These puppets are not meant to set examples. They are meant to entertain and get kids to pay attention to the reading, writing and arithmetic basics.
@Roxy Sorry, but Cookie Monster now says cookies are a sometimes snack and he eats more healthy foods :-)
i think it would be great if there was a gay couple represented, but i agree that it would be more appropriate if they were human, not puppet. :) also, aren’t bert and ernie supposed to be like 5 years old?