A Gay History of The Muppets - Portland Mercury

Contents:

• SAME STREET TRODUC FAY WH TWO GAY DADS DURG PRI MONTH
• BERT AND ERNIE ARE ED A GAY UPLE, 'SAME STREET' WRER CLAIMS
• SAME STREET SAYS BERT AND ERNIE 'DON'T HAVE A SEXUAL ORIENTATN' AFTER LONGTIME WRER CLAIMS THEY'RE GAY
• 'SAME STREET' INTRODUC GAY COUPLE DURG PRI MONTH
• HOW GAY ARE THE MUPPETS?
• A GAY HISTORY OF THE MUPPETS
• SAME STREET GO GAY: ‘ON OUR STREET, WE ACCEPT ALL…HAPPY PRI MONTH’
• WHY MATTERS THAT BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, WHICH THEY AREWHY MATTERS THAT BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, WHICH THEY ARE
• THIS GAY PUPPETEER HELPED PUT 'THE MUPPET SHOW' ON THE MAP AND CHANGED TV FOREVER
• 'SAME STREET' THREATENS LAWSU OVER GAY MUPPET RUMORS
• 'SAME STREET' FEATUR 2 GAY FATHERS FOR 1ST TIME 51-YEAR HISTORY
• THE FIGHT OVER SAME STREET’S BERT AND ERNIE AS A GAY UPLE, EXPLAED
• ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY?

SAME STREET TRODUC FAY WH TWO GAY DADS DURG PRI MONTH

'Same Street' troduc fay wh two gay dads. The episo featured a fay wh two gay dads.

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.

Earlier this year, two Black characters were troduced who discsed racial differenc, and now the show has weled two gay dads. Related: Republin wants to cut fundg om “Same Street” bee a gay man will appear on. Same Street repeated the same le 2018 when our sister se Queerty reported that one of the show’s key wrers always saw the roommat as a gay uple.

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

Where HIV disproportnately affects non-whe, gay and bi men and trans people, her mere existence at least hted at the show’s sire to get to potentially touchy terrory.

Neverthels, Same Street has stood up to other queerphob of late by featurg very out celebri their show cludg lbian talk show host Ellen DeGener, edian Billy Eichner, Pose actor and sger Billy Porter, and most recently gay rapper Lil’ Nas X. For years, dienc have bated whether Bert and Ernie are Same Street's rint gay uple. But their iendship has been the subject of much bate over the years and many speculated that the two are fact a gay uple.

Why People Thk Bert and Ernie Are a Gay Couple.

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

The mors led to a number of public sentments om Same Workshop statg that they are not a gay uple, but are simply bt iends.

Mark Saltzman, ex-wrer for Same Street, alleged that Bert and Ernie were based on his timate gay relatnship wh a worker — but should be noted that Saltzman is not the creator of Bert and Ernie. Another reason the bate has gone on so long is om the unrlyg homophobia that l our society and, up until recently, domated the media. People fear what they don't unrstand, and many the LGBTQ+ muny believe that those who ny that Bert and Ernie may be a uple are beg homophobic, takg issue wh the implied queerns.

'SAME STREET' INTRODUC GAY COUPLE DURG PRI MONTH

In the 1970s, he was one of the most famo gay men the world … whose face nobody regnized. At the same time, Richard was enjoyg gay New York of the 1970s, which was an credible time and place. The documentary Gay Sex the '70s ptur jt a taste of the post-Stonewall life, where ee love had created an environment far ls hibed than prev s.

HOW GAY ARE THE MUPPETS?

Same Street was not the only kids’ show that voiced a msage of support for the LGBT activist–backed “Pri Month, ” which promot the homosexual liftyle and genr-fluidy. For a long time, LGBTQ activists and punds have sisted tha the two puppet characters are a “gay uple.

Bert and Ernie “gay” mors were addrsed 2018 when Same Street Workshop, as well as Muppet creator Frank Oz, nied that Bert and Ernie are “gay. She was asked if Bert and Ernie are a “mted gay uple. “You want to thk they’re gay?

DROP Disney+: New teen film 'Out' featur openly homosexual ma character! The Twter hashtag #Spongebobisgay began to trend on Twter after many on social media speculated that SpongeBob SquarePants is ed “gay” for beg clud the June 13 Nickeloon tweet.

A GAY HISTORY OF THE MUPPETS

However, the creator of SpongeBob, Stephen Hillenberg, who died 2018, said 2005 that he “never tend” the Spongebob character and his sikick iend Patrick Starfish to be “gay. “We never tend them to be gay.

The New Yorker ver, njunctn wh the two historic SCOTUS gay rights lgs of 2013 referenced the mor of Bert and Ernie's relatnship. LGBT culture scrib the social paradigm by which lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr, and queer (LGBTQ) dividuals sometim intify.

Celebrated morn culture as "LGBT pri" (sometim abbreviated simply as "pri") is the celebratn and promotn of the self-affirmatn, digny, equaly, and creased visibily of lbian, gay, bisexual, and transgenr (LGBT) people as a social group. Rudy acknowledg a picture of a male, homosexual uple, by untg the two daddi the photo.

SAME STREET GO GAY: ‘ON OUR STREET, WE ACCEPT ALL…HAPPY PRI MONTH’

Miss Piggy's "snout-out to the gays" Out. Miss Piggy gave a "snout-out to the gays" the November 2011 issue of Out, a popular gay and lbian liftyle magaze; Piggy shared ten very brief, personal not on her nnectn wh the gay muny.

Miss Piggy also appeared as a gut at a fundraisg event December 2011 for The Trevor Project, a non-prof anizatn, foced on suici preventn efforts among lbian, gay, bisexual, transgenr and qutng (LGBTQ) youth. Piggy, herself beg a drag performance, has been lled a gay in; the pig mented on the fact a 2014 terview statg: "I love beg anybody's in.

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

" (a phemism for a gay man).

THIS GAY PUPPETEER HELPED PUT 'THE MUPPET SHOW' ON THE MAP AND CHANGED TV FOREVER

In the Muppets Now episo "Due Date, " openly gay drag queen RuPl gut stars, and is referred to wh both he/him and genrntral they/them pronouns by the characters throughout their segment together. On October 8, 2021, promotn of Muppets Hnted Mansn, Miss Piggy was terviewed for LGBTQ+ outlet Queerty, talkg about Kerm and Piggy dog drag the film, her huge gay followg, and potential body image issu.

In 1986, Jim Henson was asked by reporter Alan Neff if any of the Muppets were gay. The Dosrs episo "I Never Ate for My Father" serv up an allegory for homosexualy, among other societal issu, when Robbie Sclair tri to keep his very unorthodox vegetarianism a secret om his fay, even sneakg off to a unterculture salad bar, a gay bar stand-.

'SAME STREET' THREATENS LAWSU OVER GAY MUPPET RUMORS

Productns wh the Jim Henson Company's Henson Alternative brand have often explored adult them, sexual relatnships, and featured homosexualy. And Stuffed and Unstng have featured gay jok and characters.

Have featured referenc to homosexualy, cludg -pth discsns of gay marriage episo 102 (YouTube) and episo 318 (YouTube). See also: Are Ernie and Bert gay?

'SAME STREET' FEATUR 2 GAY FATHERS FOR 1ST TIME 51-YEAR HISTORY

Publicy for the "We Are Fay" vio featurg the Muppets was largely hijacked by nservative groups, sayg the project was a vehicle for "pro-gay propaganda. The Tradnal Valu Coaln stated would "be another propaganda tool to normalize homosexualy our culture. "[30] The mors were misguid, wh Same Workshop havg no plans to troduce an HIV-posive character on the Amerin show, nor havg any plans to troduce a homosexual character.

In 2012, due to ntroversi surroundg the fast food cha's posns on gay rights issu, the Jim Henson Company ceased a promotnal partnership wh Chick-fil-A. Lisa Henson, our CEO is personally a strong supporter of gay marriage and has directed to donate the payment we received om Chick-Fil-A to GLAAD.

A rather gay Same Street on The Simpsons.

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

" The lyrics have been terpreted as a reference to supportg gay relatnships; Brooks won a 1993 GLAAD Media Award for the song. Brooks, a supporter of gay rights, also performed the song at Equaly Rocks, a gay rights march Washgton, D. Jsi Max Ste wrote The Rabow Connectn: Richard Hunt, Gay Muppeteer, a ze celebratg Richard Hunt's life and reer.

Frank Oz directed the 1997 film In & Out; the film was one of mastream Hollywood's first attempts at a edic "gay movie" and was wily noted at the time for a 10-send kiss between Kev Kle and Tom Selleck. The program actually shows a gay bar, plete wh men remblg Bert, Ernie, Big Bird, and Osr the Grouch. Are Ernie and Bert gay?

Are Bunsen and Beaker gay? Plenty of Muppets are romantic relatnships, so who r if a uple of obvly gay puppets are gay? Sce began airg 2013, Steven Universe has featured multiple queer characters and relatnships, cludg a gay weddg (wh a kiss!

ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY?

But not all creators have had the wherewhal or the abily to do that, and the stori behd Adventure Time and Legend of Korra’s now-inic gay moments are of siarly uphill battl wh varyg his “Korrasami is non” post, Korra -creator Bryan Konietzko said Nickeloon had put “lims” on how much of Korra and Asami’s buddg romance was allowed to be picted on screen. No, thank that so many people’s mds — some of whom sisted that they were no way homophobic, and how dare anyone imply otherwise — immediately went there pats a pretty damng picture of society’s wispread abily to see queerns as anythg other than vulgar and sexual.

And their stubborn nial of Bert and Ernie’s upledom spe so many other straight Muppet upl existg, Same Workshop played to exactly the prejudic that Rebec Sugar and other creators like her have worked so hard to subvert: that queer characters don’t belong stori told to pats a damng picture of society’s wispread abily to see queerns as anythg other than vulgar and sexualThe qutn of whether Bert and Ernie “are” actually gay is kd of a different one, but ’s worth addrsg.