Why matters that Bert and Ernie are gay, which they are - The Verge

Contents:

• SAME STREET SAYS BERT AND ERNIE 'DON'T HAVE A SEXUAL ORIENTATN' AFTER LONGTIME WRER CLAIMS THEY'RE GAY
• THE BERT AND ERNIE GAY DEBATE HAS INSPIRED THE MOST HILAR 'SAME STREET' MEM
• BERT AND ERNIE ARE ED A GAY UPLE, 'SAME STREET' WRER CLAIMS
• FRANK OZ WEIGHS ON 'SAME STREET' WRER SAYG BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY
• ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY?
• THE FIGHT OVER SAME STREET’S BERT AND ERNIE AS A GAY UPLE, EXPLAED
• ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY? ‘SAME STREET’ WRER SAYS HIS COMMENTS WERE MISTERPRETED
• WHY MATTERS THAT BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, WHICH THEY AREWHY MATTERS THAT BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, WHICH THEY ARE
• ARE BERT AND ERNIE A GAY UPLE? FALLY, THE ANSWER

SAME STREET SAYS BERT AND ERNIE 'DON'T HAVE A SEXUAL ORIENTATN' AFTER LONGTIME WRER CLAIMS THEY'RE GAY

A former wrer for Same Street said a recent terview that he nsired Bert and Ernie to be gay — but the show rebutted this claim, sayg the puppets “do not have a sexual orientatn. “I always felt that whout a huge agenda, when I was wrg Bert & Ernie, they were [gay], ” Saltzman said.

’ But those two… you had characters that appealed to a gay dience. It's fally time to fd out whether or not Bert and Ernie om Same Street are gay. It all started this weekend when Same Street wrer Mark Saltzman told Queerty that Bert and Ernie were spired by his own relatnships as a gay man.

Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & Ernie are gay. I DON'T CARE IF BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY I JUST WANT THEM TO BE HAPPY!!!! If Bert and Ernie are not gay they're not gay but your exce n't be that they're puppets.

THE BERT AND ERNIE GAY DEBATE HAS INSPIRED THE MOST HILAR 'SAME STREET' MEM

don't matter if Bert and Ernie aren't gay but this reasong don't add are even llg out homophob.

I love all the homophob upset about Bert & Ernie beg gay bee 's "unnatural" have no problem wh a 8ft 2 bird, a og who got a pig pregnant, & a green monster wh no visible nose livg a garbage n.

Y, ERNIE is gay but BERT is bi. Platonic or homosexual - this is a bop.

BERT AND ERNIE ARE ED A GAY UPLE, 'SAME STREET' WRER CLAIMS

Frank Oz is voice of dozens of puppets and muppets as one of Jim Henson's earlit llaborators — and now the storied puppeteer is lendg his voice to the bate over whether or not "Same Street" characters Bert and Ernie are gay.

FRANK OZ WEIGHS ON 'SAME STREET' WRER SAYG BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY

Why the need to fe people as only gay? There's much more to a human beg than jt straightns or gayns.

ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY?

"Director/producer/puppeteer Frank Oz pos for a portra at the "Muppet Guys Talkg - Secrets Behd the Show the Whole World Watched" at the 2017 SXSW Wkelmeyer / Getty Imag for SXSW fileOz ntued to go back-and-forth wh people rpondg to his tweet who asked why the lorful puppets uldn't be gay.

Bert and Ernie were created to be bt iends, and to teach young children that people n get along wh those who are very different om themselv, " the workshop said a statement emailed to NBC ntued to take to Twter, tellg followers he felt he uldn't ll Bert and Ernie gay bee his md wasn't asked why he felt the need to intify the puppets as "not gay, " Oz replied: "The same need I would feel if Bert were intified as a lebacker for the Colts. Next time I would be very terted to know: If Bert and Ernie were ed gay, would they be different than they are now?

In 1994, former Same Workshop head, Gary Knell, said that Bert and Ernie “are not gay, they are not straight, they are puppets.

THE FIGHT OVER SAME STREET’S BERT AND ERNIE AS A GAY UPLE, EXPLAED

Many members of the gay muny voiced their tratn wh Same Workshop's refal to acknowledge a sexual relatnship between Bert and Ernie. "And I always felt that whout a huge agenda, when I was wrg Bert & Ernie, they were [gay].

Somehow, the uproar, that turned to Bert and Ernie beg gay, ” he said. ” The New York Tim stated that "while [Saltzman] believ that Same Street should clu a gay uple s programmg, he said should be done wh human characters, not puppets.

Jim and I never created them to be gay”. It has long been whispered that Same Street's Bert and Ernie are gay.

ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY? ‘SAME STREET’ WRER SAYS HIS COMMENTS WERE MISTERPRETED

They're not even homosexual (if ed 's possible for mere puppets to be sexual). The shift the standard mor of gayns to clu s subjects actually gettg married is, I thk, a reflectn of the tim. Joseph Chambers attempted to get the puppets banned unr a ltle-ed anti-gay law the ep South.

WHY MATTERS THAT BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, WHICH THEY AREWHY MATTERS THAT BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, WHICH THEY ARE

Bert and Ernie, who've been on Same Street for 25 years, do not portray a gay uple, and there are no plans for them to do so the future.

Though 's impossible to p down where the "Bert and Ernie are gay" mor began, one potential source is The Real Thg, a 1980 Doubleday book by Kurt Anrsen. In this book (which purports to be "A gui to separatg the genue om the ersatz, the men om the boys, and the wheat om the chaff"), Anrsen mak the whimsil claim that among homosexuals, Bert and Ernie are "the Real Thg":.

Bert and Ernie nduct themselv the same lovg, discreet way that lns of gay men, women and hand puppets do. Are Bert and Ernie gay? Same Street has always had one nsistent official answer (no, they’re not), but that hasn’t stopped the two famo felt roommat om beg gay ins and occupyg a unique role the queer rights movement.

ARE BERT AND ERNIE A GAY UPLE? FALLY, THE ANSWER

Controversy over their perceived homosexualy has raged termtently for s, spearhead by both alli and adversari — and a new flare-up shows that ’s not gog away anytime soon.

The official negatn was echoed by puppetmaster Frank Oz, who origally performed Bert oppose Jim Henson as Ernie, and who stated on Twter that “They’re not [gay], of urse. For those queer fans lookg for narrative subtext, there’s plenty to be found the personas of Bert and Ernie; after all, there’s a reason we as a culture have been discsg their relatnship for s, a reason that they ntue to be held up as gay ins across generatns — and a reason people have spent s beg hoppg mad about .

It’s all pretty gay! Among homosexuals, Bert and Ernie of Same Street are the real thg.