Are Ernie and Bert gay? Who gets to say? - Los Angel Tim

are ernie and bert gay

A former wrer for the Muppets said he nsired Bert and Ernie to be gay — and Same Street quickly refuted his terpretatn

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

* are ernie and bert gay *

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.

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. Bert and Ernie nduct themselv the same lovg, discreet way that lns of gay men, women and hand puppets do.

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

In a slew of tweets on Tuday, Frank Oz said Bert and Ernie aren't gay after a former "Same Street" wrer said the duo are a uple. * are ernie and bert gay *

“I don’t believe there was much public discsn, ser or otherwise, about the crypto-gayns of The Odd Couple the 1960s and ’70s, ” he wrote an email.

“That kd of disurse only appeared ncerng work about straight characters by gay wrers — most famoly, whether Who’s Aaid of Virgia Woolf was somehow ‘really’ about a gay uple, ” he add. “In 1980, when I published my Bert & Ernie thg, there were still no out gay characters mass media.

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

For years, dienc have bated whether Bert and Ernie are Same Street's rint gay uple. Here's why 's such a phenomenon. * are ernie and bert gay *

The piece of the zegeist I was rpondg to was, jt a after Stonewall (which BTW occurred a few months before Same Street premiered) and the first pri march, the hly ‘normalized’ nature of out gayns plac like New York.

The nversatn between Saltzman and terviewer Reddish is illumatg and poignant, equently returng to Saltzman’s experience as a young gay man the early ’80s, one fdg his way out of the closet jt as the AIDS epimic was begng to be wily unrstood. “I n remember pchg to the tn partment, the gatekeepers of the curriculum, gay ntent, jt to get off my nscience. But there was one place Saltzman was able to sert his own lived experience as a gay man to his wrg, and that was through the personas of Bert and Ernie.

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

After a former "Same Street" wrer said Bert and Ernie are gay an terview, the non-prof behd "Same Street," Same Workshop, issued a statement regardg the characters' sexualy. * are ernie and bert gay *

“There is a difference, ” he told the Tim, between “brg[g] what you know to your work” and “Bert and Ernie beg gay.

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

Same Workshop issued a statement clarifyg Bert and Ernie's relatnship after a former wrer said he nsired the puppets to be gay. * are ernie and bert gay *

But ’s also important to note that if Saltzman’s origal ment to Queerty that “when I was wrg Bert & Ernie, they were” lovers was te, seems to have been an impulse born out of the ep existential crisis of beg gay durg the AIDS epimic. It was an era when an entire culture was unr attack — if not om the disease directly, then om the many homophobic parameters that arguably worsened the spe of the tragedy.

In that era, primarily due to homophobic agators, Bert and Ernie beme perpetually discsed parts of the so-lled “gay agenda.

THE MAKERS OF 'SAME STREET' ISSUED AN OFFICIAL STATEMENT REGARDG BERT AND ERNIE'S SEXUALY, AFTER A FORMER WRER SAID HE VIEWED THEM AS A GAY UPLE

A former 'Same Street' wrer nfirms that he wrote Bert and Ernie a gay relatnship. * are ernie and bert gay *

In the ’90s, Bert and Ernie were drafted to the “homosexual agenda. In the ’90s, Bert and Ernie beme viewed by some as threateng elements of a homosexual liftyle that was perceived as encroachg upon a mastream heteronormative culture. In 1993, the New Voice, a regnal gay newspaper, reported that Tupelo, Mississippi, gay panic had spng up over the appearance of Bert and Ernie as part of a Same Street tour stop at a lol arena.

“Tupelo lism officials say they’ve been bombard wh ncerned parents wantg to know if two of the fictnal characters are gay, ” the newspaper noted. “Officials say mors that Same Street’s Bert and Ernie characters are supposedly portrayg a homosexual uple have circulated across the untry. If this isn’t meant to reprent a homosexual unn, I n’t image what ’s supposed to reprent.

“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, ” reads a statement om 1993 llected by Snop. In 2000, one wrer displayed Bert and Ernie dolls at his same-sex weddg as a repudiatn of the homophobic enzy around the characters; 2002, the Same Street Workshop stopped circulatn of a cult die film lled Ernt and Bertram that rest the characters as gay. In 2010, discsn of the queerg of the Same Street characters was fully mastream, prompted part by a tweet om the official Same Street acunt that read to some as nfirmatn of Bert’s homosexualy.

ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY?

Who gets to tell the tth of a character? After nflictg acunts about whether or not Ernie and Bert are gay, thor John Slzi nsirs the possibili. * are ernie and bert gay *

The ke had been orred, ironilly, as a way to memorate the Internatnal Day Agast Homophobia.

Given that Bert and Ernie have been repeatedly drafted to the gay agenda by homophob, ’s a matter of, well, pri, for queer fans to subversively view them as a joyo reprentatn of a posive queer relatnship — which is why Same Street’s nial on Tuday stck many people as homophobic. As long as Bert and Ernie uld be queer, they will ntue to enrage homophob who seek to e them to imply a gay nspiracy to filtrate mastream pop culture. 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.

NO, BERT AND ERNIE AREN'T GAY — THEY'RE 'BT IENDS,' SAYS 'SAME STREET'

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. Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & 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.

"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.

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

Next time I would be very terted to know: If Bert and Ernie were ed gay, would they be different than they are now? For years, dienc have bated whether Bert and Ernie are Same Street's rint gay uple.

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

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. 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.

BERT AND ERNIE WERE GAY (AT LEAST THE MD OF ONE SAME STREET WRER)

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.

"The statement after former "Same Street" wrer Mark Saltzman said a recent terview that he viewed Bert and Ernie as a gay uple. Same Workshop issued a statement Tuday regardg Saltzman's ments a recent terview, where he said that he viewed Bert and Ernie, "Same Street's" separable bt buds, as a gay uple.

ARE ERNIE AND BERT GAY? WHO GETS TO SAY?

"Bert performer Frank Oz even weighed on the bate wh a Tuday tweet, sayg "They're not, of urse [a gay uple]. It has long been whispered that Same Street's Bert and Ernie are gay.

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. 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.

SAME STREET DISPUT WRER'S CLAIM THAT BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY

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.

BERT & ERNIE ARE NOT GAY, SAME STREET SAYS STATEMENT

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":.

FORMER 'SAME STREET' WRER REVEALS BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY COUPLE

A former "Same Street" wrer says he wrote Bert and Ernie as a gay uple.

*BEAR-MAGAZINE.COM* ARE ERNIE AND BERT GAY

Bert and Ernie are ed a gay uple, 'Same Street' wrer claims .

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