Are Ernie and Bert gay?

[Erine81981]

I think people should just keep the question to themself. I have a friend I want to move in with and me and him rn't gay were good friends. We've been friends for a long time. I've even slept w/ him in bed just because the others were taken. It just comes to show that people just don't have anything to do expect pick on childrens shows. I even concider me and him are Ernie and Bert. I think i would be Ernie and he would be Bert. Its the way I think of me and the way i think of him. I know my sister jokes about it but thats just her way of joking around w/ me and my friend. Another thing is i think Bert and Ernie are in there 20's. Thats just me but thats what i think. It seems that way. How else could they afford all the things in their apartment. And they proubly do work. Well there's my theroy.

 

[Fozzie Bear]

Found this information at snopes.com:

http://www.snopes.com/radiotv/tv/gaymupp.htm
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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."

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?

Barbara "gay abandoned" Mikkelson

Last updated: 14 December 1997
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Article was accompanied by a generic picture of Bert and Ernie.

FOZ

 

[Luke]

Although suprisingly in both real life discussions and interviews it's none other than Frank Oz who has been the one to give a nudge, wink and smile when asked if Bert and Ernie were supposed to be gay.

 

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

Wow, there was a cut comment about this from a "Friends" episode in season 2---I just found out on my DVD earlier.

In the episode where Joey moves out, he says, "We don't have to live together forever---we're not Bert 'n Ernie!", which was shown in broadcast, but, right after that, Chandler says, "Okay, we're not gay puppets"!, the line which was cut.

Now every episode has at least 1 minute of footage never-before-seen (cause of ad time), but I thought it was interesting that reference was cut out (of which I'm glad).

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

I thought it was interesting that reference was cut out (of which I'm glad).

It's such a tired comment. How long has this speculation been floating around? And what's the point? It's a show aimed at young kids, for goodness' sake! It's a bummer that in contemporary culture a close friendship with two guys automatically means they're gay. With Bert and Ernie, they're roomies; sorta an Odd Couple. I don't see anything gay about that. I have also heard speculation that Pooh and Piglet are gay...
Erin

 

[WiGgY]

The problem here is that we only see Bert and Ernie as they live during the day. At night Bert and Ernie hit the clubs and pick of some top notch babes.

In all seriousness, they are freaking puppets. They aren't gay or straight, they are foam. So, I suppose they are foamosexual, as all puppets are. I hope this answers any questions.

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

So, I suppose they are foamosexual, as all puppets are. I hope this answers any questions.

LOL!!!!!! Love that word!!!
Erin

 

[Janice & Mokey's Man]

LOL, yeah, that's great!

 

[WiGgY]

LOL!!!!!! Love that word!!!
Erin

Thank you. I just came up with it. i'm good like that lol.

BTW, I took the time to actually read the pages in this post so I have more stuff to say.

The first thing is that Bert and Ernie (and Cookie, Grover, Oscar ect) are all adults with the mentality of children. So, I suppose you could say they are mentally challenged. When it comes to characters like Big Bird, Baby Bear, Elmo, Zoe, ect, this does not apply because they are actually children and treated like children and even look like children. I don't know what that has to do with this topic, but the question of age came up and this was my view on it.

Secondly, being gay is not abnormal, but it is abmajority (I like it when I make up words ). What I really mean is that it's a minority, but worst of all it's a minority that anyone can be! So who do we know how to hate? Thats the problem. (I hope everyone see's my sarcasim here and doesn't think I actually belive this stuff. I'm using absurd humor to express a point) So, to help all the red necks and extreme religious people, we as a people create stereotypes. Are these stereotypes true? Well of course they are for some people. These things don't just come out of no where. I'm sure there was once a gay man who liked to decorate living rooms, but that doesn't mean all gay men decorate nor does it mean all decorators are gay. This brings me to my point (yeah, I have one). Why is the question of Bert and Ernie being gay brought up? The reason is that they are gay stereotypes in certain ways. The basic way is that they have been living togther for 34 years and have yet to have a date. And there you have it. We make stereotypes to help identify the minority, and the majority always hates the minority, so whenever someone, or some muppet, has these stereotypical attributes, we can put a label on them. And that is why people get the idea that Bert and Ernie are gay.

So, did anyone get that? I know I didin't.

Now, who cares if they are gay? Well, we all do! Sure we do. Why wouldn't we? It's one of those sick things that society puts into our heads. We must label everything and if the stereotype fits a label, that's the label we give. Bert can't just be a puppet. He has to be a gay or straight puppet. That guy sitting on the bus isn't just a guy, he's a white guy, or a balck guy, or a jewish guy. It's never just a guy and it's never just a puppet.

All that crap being said, I'd like it if everyone on earth were gray and shapless. Then we could all hate each other for who we really are.

These ramblings were brought to you today by the letter Y, as in Y are we disscussing this, and the number 0, and in this topic has 0 value.

Oh, I must end on a high note. Um...foamosexual. There, I think I did it.

 

[Don'tLiveonMoon]

LOL!!! I'm not sure I caught quite everything you said, but then my mind's a little woozy at 4:30 in the morning too. I don't want to think to hard. But you bring up a lot of good points. And humor - love "abmajority" too! I think there are lots of perfectly nice, decent, etc. folks out there who are gay. The few gay people I do know are perfectly pleasant people. But the people who usually refer to Bert and Ernie as gay usually mean it in a derogatory sense, just looking for an opportunity to tear apart gay people and Sesame Street at the same time.
Erin