In the famous TV show Sesame Street - Was Bert and Ernie gay?

Answer 1

Claim: Sesame Street muppets Bert and Ernie are live-in lovers, and they're about to get married.

Status: False.

Origins: It has long been whispered that Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie are gay. At various times the rumor has escalated into their actually getting married on the show, this event either being planned for a future episode or said to have happened on a previous one.

Bert and Ernie are not married. They're not even homosexual (if indeed it's possible for mere puppets to be sexual). They are nothing but well-loved puppets from a hugely popular children's TV series.

Media stories along the lines of "Here are some silly rumors making the rounds" are often misremembered and later recalled as true stories. There seems to be a strong need to believe that figures adored by kids aren't all sweetness and light; that they are instead "trading on their popularity to influence our children with their lifestyle[s]."

Who are Bert and Ernie, anyway? They're muppets. More to the point, they're cute, lovable characters whom children love to watch and laugh with. As popular figures, they have the power to teach and to influence. That is indeed what's at the bottom of these rumors, the fear that wide-eyed children will end up absorbing values different from those their parents wanted them to learn, and that parental moral leadership will be undermined by turning children over to Sesame Street's care for an hour each day.

The shift in the standard rumor of gayness to include its subjects actually getting married is, I think, a reflection of the times. Urban legends are often about our fears and concerns; fretting that Bert and Ernie might be heading for the altar is an expression of society's unease with the concept of same-sex marriages. Whether or not same-sex marriages are a good idea is beside the point; mainstream America still largely feels they're not. The thought of two heartily approved of characters going through with such a plan is enough to galvanize parents everywhere into action against what they see as a threat. It's that old, familiar cry of "Our children are in danger!"

In early 1994, Rev. Joseph Chambers attempted to get the puppets banned under a little-used anti-gay law in the deep South. Referred to by the Daily Mirror as a "crackpot preacher from Charlotte, North Carolina," the preacher was said to have stormed on his radio show:
Bert and Ernie are two grown men sharing a house and a bedroom. They share clothes, eat and cook together and have blatantly effeminate characteristics.
The Children's Television Workshop has steadfastly denied rumors about Bert and Ernie's sexual orientation for about as long as they can remember. One of their oft-faxed prepared statements (this one from 1993) reads:
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.
The Autumn 1993 tour of Sesame Street Live provoked yet another twist to the marriage rumor: Bert and Ernie's wedding would be part of the show. Calls flooded both the Children's Television Workshop and many of the venues where the 90-minute musical was scheduled to play. Needless to say, a marriage was never part of the planned festivities.

Though it's impossible to pin down where the "Bert and Ernie are gay" rumor began, one potential source is The Real Thing, a 1980 Doubleday book by Kurt Andersen. In this book (which purports to be "A guide to separating the genuine from the ersatz, the men from the boys, and the wheat from the chaff"), Andersen makes the whimsical claim that among homosexuals, Bert and Ernie are "the Real Thing":


Bert and Ernie conduct themselves in the same loving, discreet way that millions of gay men, women and hand puppets do. They do their jobs well and live a splendidly settled life together in an impeccably decorated cabinet.
Could this cheeky comment have been the genesis of the rumor that now so plagues Sesame Street?

Answer 2

not in my opinion. you see sesame street came about when we were a bit less sexually oriented. NOW if same sex people share an abode for a long time, there is a GAY stigma attached to them, or a Bi sexual connotation. when BERT and ERNIE were "born" it wasnt unusual to share a house. WERE the odd couple gay???? No . Times were much simpler then, sex was not always an agenda.

Batman and Robin werent gay in the 60's. In fact no one was until our sexual liberations of the 80's. even CARY GRANT didin't become GAY (even tho he was a pillow biter) until the late 70's.

today our society has an urge to categorise everything and everyone. back then we just allowed people to be people.

Answer 3

There were insinuastions from the politically correct that the show should make them gay characters to create diversity. But to be honest, as a kid I just saw them as a pair of close friends; like Laurel & Hardy or Morecambe & Wise when they bounced into bed together.

Answer 4

You never know until you know. The only way to know is to ask them.

You can have your suspicions, but that just means you have a suspicious mind. We've all been in their bedroom, and seen them in bed. I never noticed any sexual tension between them. Ernie was seriously into his rubber ducky. What about that?

Answer 5

Well, since bert is a transexual, technically they're NOT gay, because bert is actually a chick. Or was a chick.

Answer 6

i think bert wanted ernie but ernie wouldnt have a bar of it

Answer 7

did they ever touch eachother in a sexual way or kiss or do b lowjobs or f uck on the sesame street? did they talk about their gay love? or were they just two male puppets who shared an apartment but didn't have girlfriends or have sex with girls on sesame st. maybe they were two gays.

Answer 8

of course they were and with bert being the angry , controlling one, he would force ernie to bend over and pick up his rubber duckie in the shower.

Answer 9

No, but Bert was evil, and hung out with Osama Bib Laden!
(Not making this up - do a google!)

Answer 10

They were for sure I have a friend we will call him mr Mayo to hide his identity, had a threesome with them, bert is the B*tch.