'Same Street' Wrer Clarifi Claims That Bert and Ernie Are Gay

Contents:

• SAME STREET SAYS BERT AND ERNIE 'DON'T HAVE A SEXUAL ORIENTATN' AFTER LONGTIME WRER CLAIMS THEY'RE GAY
• THE FIGHT OVER SAME STREET’S BERT AND ERNIE AS A GAY UPLE, EXPLAED
• 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? ‘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
• BERT AND ERNIE'S NEW YORKER COVER IS A PICTURE PERFECT SYMBOL FOR GAY MARRIAGE
• THE BERT AND ERNIE GAY DEBATE HAS INSPIRED THE MOST HILAR 'SAME STREET' MEM
• BERT & ERNIE CELEBRATE GAY MARRIAGE ON THE NEW YORKER'S COVER
• 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
• ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY?
• INSI BERT AND ERNIE’S ALL-TOO-BRIEF MOMENT OF GAY LIBERATNFELTA GAY ‘SAME STREET’ WRER REVEALED HE DISTILLED PARTS OF HIS OWN RELATNSHIP TO BERT AND ERNIE. ‘SAME STREET’ AND FRANK OZ OBJECTED. BUT MOMENTARILY THE PAIR WAS LIBERATED.TIM TEEMANSENR EDOR AND WRERUPDATED OCT. 11, 2018 5:33PM EDT / PUBLISHED SEP. 18, 2018 8:20PM EDT OPNPHOTO ILLTRATN BY LYNE LUCIEN/THE DAILY BEASTTHEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW THEY GOT THERE. BUT AT 1:07 PM ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2018, AS IF BY MAGIC, BERT AND ERNIE FOUND THEMSELV NEW YORK CY STARG UP AT THE RED NEON SIGN OF THE STONEWALL INN.BERT WAS WHG THAT WAS TOO HUMID, AND THAT HE NEED TO GET SI SOMEPLACE FOR THE AIR NDNG. "ERNIE, I THK 'S GONNA RA," HE ADD. "AND WE DON'T HAVE AN UMBRELLA." ERNIE DIDN'T HEAR THE CRICISM. HIS EY WERE SCERS: HE'D JT SEEN A HOT SILVER-HAIRED GUY HEAD SI. HE REMD ERNIE OF SAM THE EAGLE (SECRET CSH, HE ULDN'T TELL BERT OR THERE WOULD BE SULKG FOR DAYS). BERT'S PHONE PGED. HE AND ERNIE READ THE ARTICLE SILENCE. THE LGBT SE QUEERTY HAD PUBLISHED AN EXCELLENT­—REALLY, READ —TERVIEW WH MARK SALTZMAN, A WRER ON SAME STREET, ONE OF A TEAM WHO WROTE BERT AND ERNIE. THIS IS WHAT SALTZMAN TOLD THOR DAVID REDDISH, ABOUT HOW HIS OWN RELATNSHIP WH HIS PARTNER ARNOLD “ARNIE” GLASSMAN RMED WHAT HE WROTE. BERT AND ERNIE READ SILENCE:“I REMEMBER ONE TIME THAT A LUMN OM THE SAN FRANCIS CHRONICLE, A PRE-SCHOOLER THE CY TURNED TO MOM AND ASKED “ARE BERT & ERNIE LOVERS?” AND THAT, G OM A PRCHOOLER WAS FUN. AND THAT GOT PASSED AROUND, AND EVERYONE HAD THEIR CHUCKLE AND WENT BACK TO . “AND I ALWAYS FELT THAT WHOUT A HUGE AGENDA, WHEN I WAS WRG BERT & ERNIE, THEY WERE. I DIDN’T HAVE ANY OTHER WAY TO NTEXTUALIZE THEM. THE OTHER THG WAS, MORE THAN ONE PERSON REFERRED TO ARNIE & I AS ‘BERT & ERNIE.’“YEAH, I WAS ERNIE. I LOOK MORE BERT-ISH. AND ARNIE AS A FILM EDOR—IF YOU THOUGHT OF BERT WH A JOB THE WORLD, WOULDN’T THAT BE PERFECT? BERT WH HIS PAPER CLIPS AND ANIZATN? AND I WAS THE JOKTER. SO WAS THE BERT & ERNIE RELATNSHIP, AND I WAS ALREADY WH ARNIE WHEN I ME TO SAME STREET. SO I DON’T THK I’D KNOW HOW ELSE TO WRE THEM, BUT AS A LOVG UPLE. I WROTE SKETCH… ARNIE’S OCD WOULD CREATE ICTN WH HOW CHAOTIC I WAS. AND THAT’S THE BERT & ERNIE DYNAMIC.”THE BERT AND ERNIE RELATNSHIP WAS ANALOGO TO SALTZMAN’S OWN, THE THOR OF THE ARTICLE ASKED. “YEAH. BEE HOW ELSE? THAT’S WHAT I HAD MY LIFE, A BERT & ERNIE RELATNSHIP. HOW ULD NOT PERMEATE? THE THGS THAT WOULD TICK OFF ARNIE WOULD BE THE THGS THAT WOULD TICK OFF BERT. HOW ULD NOT? I WILL SAY THAT I WOULD NEVER HAVE SAID TO THE HEAD WRER, ‘OH, I’M WRG THIS, THIS IS MY PARTNER AND ME.’”STILL THE GLOW OF THE STONEWALL INN'S RED SIGN, BERT AND ERNIE THOUGHT WAS A BETIFUL TERVIEW (ED IS A MT-READ FOR ANY SAME STREET AND MUPPET SHOW FANS, WH OODL OF TIMATE SIGHT AND GOSSIP).THE TER, HOWEVER, SPUN TO AN EVABLE MELTDOWN, WHICH MA BERT START MOANG TO HIMSELF WH A HIGH-PCHED WHE, AND ERNIE SCNCH UP HIS FACE, WORRIED FOR HIS IEND. THEY BOTH HEAD TO THE STONEWALL TO LLECT THEIR THOUGHTS. WHERE WERE THEY, THE TWO SUDNLY ASKED THEMSELV; THEN THEY SAW THE STORY ON THE WALLS, THE RTS OF 1969, ALL THAT HISTORY, AND THEY UNRSTOOD. A LTLE MORE GOOGLG ON BERT'S PHONE. THEY WERE "GAY" AS WELL, THE TER WAS SAYG. THEY LOOKED AT EACH OTHER, SED. BERT WAS LMER. ERNIE WAS HAPPY, AND THEN HE LOOKED UP AND SAW THE POOL TABLE. THE DAY HAD SUDNLY GOTTEN SO MUCH BETTER.THE TWO PICKED UP SOME POOL CU TO PLAY. BERT REALLY DID THK HE WAS PL NEWMAN THE HTLER, WHICH ERNIE THOUGHT WAS HOT. THEY KISSED. THEY SPOKE TO THE BARMAN. THEY WENT FOR A WALK AROUND GREENWICH VILLAGE, AND SAW LGBT PEOPLE OF ALL KDS, KISSG, CHATTG, BEG SILLY, READG, TALKG. IT FELT NATURAL AND GOOD. THEY HAD PED, AND E HOME. THE BATE ABOUT WHETHER BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY IS MANY YEARS OLD. AT ONE LEVEL SOUNDS LIKE A FUNNY BATE, BEE THIS IS, AFTER ALL, ABOUT PUPPETS MA OF FELT A SHOW AIMED AT CHILDREN. BUT THERE IS SOMETHG THAT NSISTENTLY KNEE-JERK REACTN TO THE NVERSATN—THE EYE-ROLLG SENSE ’S TOO ABSURD TO EVEN HAVE—THAT IS AS DISMISSIVE OF GAY SEXUALY AS THE REASONG THAT UNRPS WHY TWO PUPPETS ULDN’T BE OPENLY GAY ON A CHILDREN’S TV SHOW THE FIRST PLACE.INED, AROUND ONE HOUR AND TWENTY MUT AFTER THE TERVIEW PUBLISHED, THE SAME WORKSHOP ISSUED A TWEET, PRUMABLY THE STERN, ADMONISHG TONE OF SAM THE EAGLE, MAKG CLEAR THAT BERT AND ERNIE WERE BT IENDS, SIGNED TO TE KIDS THAT PEOPLE N BE DIFFERENT AND STILL GET ON. “THEY REMA PUPPETS, AND DO NOT HAVE A SEXUAL ORIENTATN.”THIS GFF DISMISSIVENS, THIS IMMEDIATE KNEE-JERK, DON’T-BE-SO-RIDICULO, RPONSE WAS FURTHER CRYSTALLIZED BY MUPPETS CREATOR AND DIRECTOR FRANK OZ HIMSELF. FRANK OZ HELPED KEEP ME ENCHANTED OM EARLY CHILDHOOD TO FAR BEYOND (AND STILL DO), AND ON TWTER ON TUDAY AFTERNOON SAID: “IT SEEMS MR. MARK SALTZMAN WAS ASKED IF BERT & ERNIE ARE GAY. IT'S FE THAT HE FEELS THEY ARE. THEY'RE NOT, OF URSE. BUT WHY THAT QUTN? DO REALLY MATTER? WHY THE NEED TO FE PEOPLE AS ONLY GAY? THERE'S MUCH MORE TO A HUMAN BEG THAN JT STRAIGHTNS OR GAYNS.” “THEY’RE NOT, OF URSE.”THE “OF URSE” IS EVERYTHG HERE. OZ SAID HE CREATED BERT; HE KNOWS WHO BERT IS. GOT . WHEN TO BERT AND ERNIE’S SEXUALY, THE RT OF ARE DNK ON RABOW PRI JUICE. AND SURE ENOUGH: ON TWTER ANYONE WHO WONRED ABOUT THE HETERO-TETCHS OF THE WORKSHOP AND OZ WERE TOLD THEY WERE SENTIALLY POLILLY-RRECT GAY KILLJOYS, OUT TO HAVE A PREDICTABLE INTY POLICS ROW WHEN THIS WAS AR OLD BERT AND ERNIE.BUT THERE IS NOTHG “OF URSE” ABOUT BERT AND ERNIE. WE DON’T KNOW IF THEY ARE LOVERS, JT GOOD IENDS, OR BOTH. THE “OF URSE” ASSUM THE HETEROSEXUALY OF TWO PUPPET CHARACTERS, WHEN THEIR ENTIRE TERPRETIVE FIELD IS GLORLY OPEN. IT’S WHY YOUNG AND OLD ULD IMAGE WHATEVER THE HELL THEY LIKED ABOUT BERT AND ERNIE. IMAGG THEM AS A SAME-SEX UPLE MIGHT HAVE BEEN QUE NICE IF YOU WERE THE KD OF GAY KID, GROWG UP, STARVED OF ANY VISUAL REPRENTATNS OF GAY PEOPLE, GAY UPL, AROUND YOU.THIS YOUNG SAME STREET AND MUPPETS FAN, GROWG UP THE EPT UNTRYSI, DIDN’T THK OF BERT AND ERNIE AS GAY. HE WAS TOO YOUNG TO KNOW WHAT THAT EVEN MEANT. BUT THEIR DIFFERENCE WAS IMMEDIATELY PLEASG. IT WAS QUE SIMPLY NICE TO SEE TWO MEN SHARE A ROOM A HOE AND A LIFE TOGETHER. IT RANG DIFFERENT TO MY YOUNG MD A SWEET WAY. BERT AND ERNIE WERE OPPOS ATTRACT, ORR VERS DISORR, ETFUL VERS EASY-GOG, REASON VERS SPONTANEY, AND THEY NEVER WENT TO BED ON AN ARGUMENT. WHEN THE LIGHT WAS TURNED OFF, AMY AND IENDSHIP REIGNED. BERT AND ERNIE SEEMED TO HAVE THE GENTLT IENDSHIP, A REVOLUTNARY MALE NNECTN TO MY YOUNG MD.FRANK OZ’S OWN LACK OF UNRSTANDG HIS TWEET SOUNDS TENSELY LIBERAL AND WELL-MEANG (AND HE GAMELY NVERSED WH TRACTORS ON TWTER). “BUT WHY THAT QUTN? DO REALLY MATTER?” WELL, Y DO WHEN ALL AROUND YOU AT HOME, SCHOOL, AND ON TV AND FILM IS ASSUMED STRAIGHT; WHERE HETEROSEXUALY IS THE IM MEDIATE FLT. WHEN YOU’RE THE ISOLATED GAY KID YOUR OWN SERT, WHY NOT LOOK TO THE OASIS OF BERT AND ERNIE, NOT FTG TO THE TABLISHED ORR THEIR OWN WAY, AND ASK SOME QUTNS OF THEM AND MAYBE YOURSELF. SUCH QUTNS N BE LIBERATG AND NOURISHG.“WHY THE NEED TO FE PEOPLE AS ONLY GAY?” ASKS OZ THAT TWEET. “THERE'S MUCH MORE TO A HUMAN BEG THAN JT STRAIGHTNS OR GAYNS.” Y, WE ALL NTA MULTUS. BUT NEHER SALTZMAN, NOT THE VIEWERS WHO SEE BERT AND ERNIE AS GAY, SEE THEM AS JT GAY. BERT, ERNIE, AND GAY PEOPLE ARE MANY THGS, OF WHICH BEG GAY IS ONE, VERY IMPORTANT PART. IN THE TEMPT OF MENT THE BT PART OF THIS AFTERNOON'S BROUHAHA, THE MOST MEANGFUL PART OF , ME THE QUEERTY TERVIEW. “SAME WORKSHOP AND FRANK OZ ME ALONG WH THEIR FLAMG TORCH OF HETEROSEXUAL RIGHTEONS AND PUT AN END TO THE TTH AND MAGIC.” THERE, A TV WRER UNABLE TO OVERTLY WRE ABOUT GAY RELATNSHIPS ON SCREEN, FOUND A WAY TO EN SOME KD OF TTH ABOUT THEM AN ADORABLE PAIR OF TV PUPPETS. SOME GAYS PICKED UP ON , SOME FOUND SOMETHG THERE, SOME DIDN’T.THE LOVELIT THG IS THAT THIS ACT OF BRAVERY AND DISSENSN FOUND SUCH AN AFFECTNATE OUTLET BERT AND ERNIE. AS WH THE BT KD OF WRG, TRANSMTED A SURFACE MSAGE AND THEN A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER ON RECEIVED DIFFERENTLY BY PEOPLE WATCHG.INSTEAD OF G OUT TO SUPPORT AND ENDORSE SALTZMAN'S WRG, THIS BRAVERY, AND THE NDOR THAT SALTZMAN SPOKE WH—HE WAS REVEALG PART OF HIS LIFE TODAY, PART OF A LOVE STORY—SAME WORKSHOP AND FRANK OZ ME ALONG WH THEIR FLAMG TORCH OF HETEROSEXUAL RIGHTEONS AND PUT AN END TO THE TTH AND MAGIC. THEY DISMISSED SALTZMAN, THE POWER OF HIS WORDS, AND HIS TENTN BEHD WRG THEM. THEY DISMISSED HIS RELATNSHIP WH GLASSMAN.SO, Y WAS AN ABSURD MEDIA STORM SOME WAYS. AND SOME OTHER WAYS BERT AND ERNIE: GAY OR NOT, PART 244, WAS UTTERLY SER. THANKS TO SALTZMAN’S WORDS YOU FIRST SAW A BRIEF GLIMPSE OF GAY HISTORY LOVGLY UNEARTHED AND TOLD, AND YOU SAW HOW THAT LTLE PIECE OF GAY HISTORY WAS EMBEDD AT THE CENTER OF A PIECE OF BELOVED POP-CULTURE. AND THEN, PRSGLY, YOU SAW THE BUBBLE OF OUTRAGE AND NIAL AT THIS MUTE -OPTG OF TURF, AND A MISERLY TERMATN TO MAKE THAT LTLE PIECE OF TURF AS STRAIGHT AS POSSIBLE AGA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, A BATE CURLY SHORN OF THE MORE SER ISSU RAISED. WHY IS THERE SUCH A LACK OF POSIVE LGBT REPRENTATN FOR YOUNG PEOPLE; AND WHAT IS SO WRONG WH THE IA OF GAY CHARACTERS BEG PRENTED TO YOUNG PEOPLE GENERALLY? THE SHAME HERE IS ON TV PRODUCERS AND PANI LACKG URAGE, NOT ON THE PEOPLE READG WHATEVER THEY LIKE TO BERT AND ERNIE. JT SO YOU KNOW, THAT JT-UNR-AN-HOUR AND TWENTY MUT OF LIBERATN, BERT AND ERNIE HAD AN ABSOLUTE BLAST NEW YORK CY. THEY PLAYED THREE GAM OF POOL, AND BERT REALLY DID DO HIS FULL-ON PL NEWMAN/HTLER IMPRSN, WHICH MA ERNIE FLHED. THE SILVER FOX TOLD THEM ABOUT THIS PLACE WH GO-GO BOYS, AND SO THEY SHED THERE BY B AND STUFFED TWENTI TO A HANDSOME DANCER'S TIGHTY-WHI. THEY WENT TO THE LGBT CENTER ON 13TH STREET, MARVELED AT ALL THE MUNY GROUPS, HAD FFEE THE URTYARD, RECEIVED THEIR FANS, AND THEN LOAD UP WH BOOKS OM BGSQD. THEY RELISHED THE ECHO-Y OL OF THE KEH HARG PISSOIR.BERT AND ERNIE WERE MAKG MERRY HELL'S KCHEN WHEN THEY SAW THE FORBIDDG CLOSET B ROLL DOWN 9TH AVENUE. THEN, PFFFTT, EVERYTHG WENT BLACK AGA. Y, WAS A VERY SILLY AFTERNOON. 'NIGHT BERT. 'NIGHT ERNIE. TIM TEEMAN
• BERT AND ERNIE WERE GAY (AT LEAST THE MD OF ONE SAME STREET WRER)
• NO, BERT AND ERNIE AREN'T GAY — THEY'RE 'BT IENDS,' SAYS 'SAME STREET'
• 'SAME STREET' WRER NFIRMS BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, AND TWTER N’T HANDLE
• 'SAME STREET' WRER WALKS BACK HIS STATEMENT ABOUT BERT AND ERNIE BEG GAY

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.

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

“I always felt that whout a huge agenda, when I was wrg Bert & Ernie, they were [gay], ” Saltzman said.

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

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.

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

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

“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.

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

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

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

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.

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

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

BERT AND ERNIE'S NEW YORKER COVER IS A PICTURE PERFECT SYMBOL FOR GAY MARRIAGE

“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.

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

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. 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. 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.

BERT & ERNIE CELEBRATE GAY MARRIAGE ON THE NEW YORKER'S COVER

"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? The inic “Same Street” duo live together, share a bedroom and don’t seem shy about takg a bath ont of each other, so …The recurrg qutn shot back to our nscns this week after a former “Same Street” wrer who is gay said an terview that he wrote Bert and Ernie as a “lovg uple, ” takg spiratn om his own relatnship wh his longtime partner. “I always felt that whout a huge agenda, when I was wrg Bert and Ernie, they were” gay, the wrer, Mark Saltzman, said an terview wh Queerty, a gay news and entertament se.

While he believ that “Same Street” should clu a gay uple s programmg, he said should be done wh human characters, not for Bert and Ernie, “they are two guys who love each other, ” Mr. ”Frank Oz, who helped create Bert and Ernie nearly a half century ago, said on Twter on Tuday that the characters were not ments received phback om those who shared the importance of havg gay and lbian reprentatn on televisn.

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

One person wrote on Twter that “havg the flexibily to see them” as gay “was good for me, and the more voic I see CONFIRMING that they DEFINITELY ARE NOT is what mak me sad.

The program rpond then as did on Tuday, sayg that the puppets were jt that — puppets — and did not have a sexual orientatn or not, Bert and Ernie me to symbolize gay rights when, 2013, they were featured on the ver of The New Yorker after the Supreme Court legalized gay marriage.

ARE BERT AND ERNIE GAY?

It showed the two muppets cuddlg ont of the TV, a moment of timacy to celebrate a historic may never know for sure whether Bert and Ernie are gay.

Plenty of Muppets are romantic relatnships, so who r if a uple of obvly gay puppets are gay?

INSI BERT AND ERNIE’S ALL-TOO-BRIEF MOMENT OF GAY LIBERATNFELTA GAY ‘SAME STREET’ WRER REVEALED HE DISTILLED PARTS OF HIS OWN RELATNSHIP TO BERT AND ERNIE. ‘SAME STREET’ AND FRANK OZ OBJECTED. BUT MOMENTARILY THE PAIR WAS LIBERATED.TIM TEEMANSENR EDOR AND WRERUPDATED OCT. 11, 2018 5:33PM EDT / PUBLISHED SEP. 18, 2018 8:20PM EDT OPNPHOTO ILLTRATN BY LYNE LUCIEN/THE DAILY BEASTTHEY DIDN'T KNOW HOW THEY GOT THERE. BUT AT 1:07 PM ON SEPTEMBER 18, 2018, AS IF BY MAGIC, BERT AND ERNIE FOUND THEMSELV NEW YORK CY STARG UP AT THE RED NEON SIGN OF THE STONEWALL INN.BERT WAS WHG THAT WAS TOO HUMID, AND THAT HE NEED TO GET SI SOMEPLACE FOR THE AIR NDNG. "ERNIE, I THK 'S GONNA RA," HE ADD. "AND WE DON'T HAVE AN UMBRELLA." ERNIE DIDN'T HEAR THE CRICISM. HIS EY WERE SCERS: HE'D JT SEEN A HOT SILVER-HAIRED GUY HEAD SI. HE REMD ERNIE OF SAM THE EAGLE (SECRET CSH, HE ULDN'T TELL BERT OR THERE WOULD BE SULKG FOR DAYS). BERT'S PHONE PGED. HE AND ERNIE READ THE ARTICLE SILENCE. THE LGBT SE QUEERTY HAD PUBLISHED AN EXCELLENT­—REALLY, READ —TERVIEW WH MARK SALTZMAN, A WRER ON SAME STREET, ONE OF A TEAM WHO WROTE BERT AND ERNIE. THIS IS WHAT SALTZMAN TOLD THOR DAVID REDDISH, ABOUT HOW HIS OWN RELATNSHIP WH HIS PARTNER ARNOLD “ARNIE” GLASSMAN RMED WHAT HE WROTE. BERT AND ERNIE READ SILENCE:“I REMEMBER ONE TIME THAT A LUMN OM THE SAN FRANCIS CHRONICLE, A PRE-SCHOOLER THE CY TURNED TO MOM AND ASKED “ARE BERT & ERNIE LOVERS?” AND THAT, G OM A PRCHOOLER WAS FUN. AND THAT GOT PASSED AROUND, AND EVERYONE HAD THEIR CHUCKLE AND WENT BACK TO . “AND I ALWAYS FELT THAT WHOUT A HUGE AGENDA, WHEN I WAS WRG BERT & ERNIE, THEY WERE. I DIDN’T HAVE ANY OTHER WAY TO NTEXTUALIZE THEM. THE OTHER THG WAS, MORE THAN ONE PERSON REFERRED TO ARNIE & I AS ‘BERT & ERNIE.’“YEAH, I WAS ERNIE. I LOOK MORE BERT-ISH. AND ARNIE AS A FILM EDOR—IF YOU THOUGHT OF BERT WH A JOB THE WORLD, WOULDN’T THAT BE PERFECT? BERT WH HIS PAPER CLIPS AND ANIZATN? AND I WAS THE JOKTER. SO WAS THE BERT & ERNIE RELATNSHIP, AND I WAS ALREADY WH ARNIE WHEN I ME TO SAME STREET. SO I DON’T THK I’D KNOW HOW ELSE TO WRE THEM, BUT AS A LOVG UPLE. I WROTE SKETCH… ARNIE’S OCD WOULD CREATE ICTN WH HOW CHAOTIC I WAS. AND THAT’S THE BERT & ERNIE DYNAMIC.”THE BERT AND ERNIE RELATNSHIP WAS ANALOGO TO SALTZMAN’S OWN, THE THOR OF THE ARTICLE ASKED. “YEAH. BEE HOW ELSE? THAT’S WHAT I HAD MY LIFE, A BERT & ERNIE RELATNSHIP. HOW ULD NOT PERMEATE? THE THGS THAT WOULD TICK OFF ARNIE WOULD BE THE THGS THAT WOULD TICK OFF BERT. HOW ULD NOT? I WILL SAY THAT I WOULD NEVER HAVE SAID TO THE HEAD WRER, ‘OH, I’M WRG THIS, THIS IS MY PARTNER AND ME.’”STILL THE GLOW OF THE STONEWALL INN'S RED SIGN, BERT AND ERNIE THOUGHT WAS A BETIFUL TERVIEW (ED IS A MT-READ FOR ANY SAME STREET AND MUPPET SHOW FANS, WH OODL OF TIMATE SIGHT AND GOSSIP).THE TER, HOWEVER, SPUN TO AN EVABLE MELTDOWN, WHICH MA BERT START MOANG TO HIMSELF WH A HIGH-PCHED WHE, AND ERNIE SCNCH UP HIS FACE, WORRIED FOR HIS IEND. THEY BOTH HEAD TO THE STONEWALL TO LLECT THEIR THOUGHTS. WHERE WERE THEY, THE TWO SUDNLY ASKED THEMSELV; THEN THEY SAW THE STORY ON THE WALLS, THE RTS OF 1969, ALL THAT HISTORY, AND THEY UNRSTOOD. A LTLE MORE GOOGLG ON BERT'S PHONE. THEY WERE "GAY" AS WELL, THE TER WAS SAYG. THEY LOOKED AT EACH OTHER, SED. BERT WAS LMER. ERNIE WAS HAPPY, AND THEN HE LOOKED UP AND SAW THE POOL TABLE. THE DAY HAD SUDNLY GOTTEN SO MUCH BETTER.THE TWO PICKED UP SOME POOL CU TO PLAY. BERT REALLY DID THK HE WAS PL NEWMAN THE HTLER, WHICH ERNIE THOUGHT WAS HOT. THEY KISSED. THEY SPOKE TO THE BARMAN. THEY WENT FOR A WALK AROUND GREENWICH VILLAGE, AND SAW LGBT PEOPLE OF ALL KDS, KISSG, CHATTG, BEG SILLY, READG, TALKG. IT FELT NATURAL AND GOOD. THEY HAD PED, AND E HOME. THE BATE ABOUT WHETHER BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY IS MANY YEARS OLD. AT ONE LEVEL SOUNDS LIKE A FUNNY BATE, BEE THIS IS, AFTER ALL, ABOUT PUPPETS MA OF FELT A SHOW AIMED AT CHILDREN. BUT THERE IS SOMETHG THAT NSISTENTLY KNEE-JERK REACTN TO THE NVERSATN—THE EYE-ROLLG SENSE ’S TOO ABSURD TO EVEN HAVE—THAT IS AS DISMISSIVE OF GAY SEXUALY AS THE REASONG THAT UNRPS WHY TWO PUPPETS ULDN’T BE OPENLY GAY ON A CHILDREN’S TV SHOW THE FIRST PLACE.INED, AROUND ONE HOUR AND TWENTY MUT AFTER THE TERVIEW PUBLISHED, THE SAME WORKSHOP ISSUED A TWEET, PRUMABLY THE STERN, ADMONISHG TONE OF SAM THE EAGLE, MAKG CLEAR THAT BERT AND ERNIE WERE BT IENDS, SIGNED TO TE KIDS THAT PEOPLE N BE DIFFERENT AND STILL GET ON. “THEY REMA PUPPETS, AND DO NOT HAVE A SEXUAL ORIENTATN.”THIS GFF DISMISSIVENS, THIS IMMEDIATE KNEE-JERK, DON’T-BE-SO-RIDICULO, RPONSE WAS FURTHER CRYSTALLIZED BY MUPPETS CREATOR AND DIRECTOR FRANK OZ HIMSELF. FRANK OZ HELPED KEEP ME ENCHANTED OM EARLY CHILDHOOD TO FAR BEYOND (AND STILL DO), AND ON TWTER ON TUDAY AFTERNOON SAID: “IT SEEMS MR. MARK SALTZMAN WAS ASKED IF BERT & ERNIE ARE GAY. IT'S FE THAT HE FEELS THEY ARE. THEY'RE NOT, OF URSE. BUT WHY THAT QUTN? DO REALLY MATTER? WHY THE NEED TO FE PEOPLE AS ONLY GAY? THERE'S MUCH MORE TO A HUMAN BEG THAN JT STRAIGHTNS OR GAYNS.” “THEY’RE NOT, OF URSE.”THE “OF URSE” IS EVERYTHG HERE. OZ SAID HE CREATED BERT; HE KNOWS WHO BERT IS. GOT . WHEN TO BERT AND ERNIE’S SEXUALY, THE RT OF ARE DNK ON RABOW PRI JUICE. AND SURE ENOUGH: ON TWTER ANYONE WHO WONRED ABOUT THE HETERO-TETCHS OF THE WORKSHOP AND OZ WERE TOLD THEY WERE SENTIALLY POLILLY-RRECT GAY KILLJOYS, OUT TO HAVE A PREDICTABLE INTY POLICS ROW WHEN THIS WAS AR OLD BERT AND ERNIE.BUT THERE IS NOTHG “OF URSE” ABOUT BERT AND ERNIE. WE DON’T KNOW IF THEY ARE LOVERS, JT GOOD IENDS, OR BOTH. THE “OF URSE” ASSUM THE HETEROSEXUALY OF TWO PUPPET CHARACTERS, WHEN THEIR ENTIRE TERPRETIVE FIELD IS GLORLY OPEN. IT’S WHY YOUNG AND OLD ULD IMAGE WHATEVER THE HELL THEY LIKED ABOUT BERT AND ERNIE. IMAGG THEM AS A SAME-SEX UPLE MIGHT HAVE BEEN QUE NICE IF YOU WERE THE KD OF GAY KID, GROWG UP, STARVED OF ANY VISUAL REPRENTATNS OF GAY PEOPLE, GAY UPL, AROUND YOU.THIS YOUNG SAME STREET AND MUPPETS FAN, GROWG UP THE EPT UNTRYSI, DIDN’T THK OF BERT AND ERNIE AS GAY. HE WAS TOO YOUNG TO KNOW WHAT THAT EVEN MEANT. BUT THEIR DIFFERENCE WAS IMMEDIATELY PLEASG. IT WAS QUE SIMPLY NICE TO SEE TWO MEN SHARE A ROOM A HOE AND A LIFE TOGETHER. IT RANG DIFFERENT TO MY YOUNG MD A SWEET WAY. BERT AND ERNIE WERE OPPOS ATTRACT, ORR VERS DISORR, ETFUL VERS EASY-GOG, REASON VERS SPONTANEY, AND THEY NEVER WENT TO BED ON AN ARGUMENT. WHEN THE LIGHT WAS TURNED OFF, AMY AND IENDSHIP REIGNED. BERT AND ERNIE SEEMED TO HAVE THE GENTLT IENDSHIP, A REVOLUTNARY MALE NNECTN TO MY YOUNG MD.FRANK OZ’S OWN LACK OF UNRSTANDG HIS TWEET SOUNDS TENSELY LIBERAL AND WELL-MEANG (AND HE GAMELY NVERSED WH TRACTORS ON TWTER). “BUT WHY THAT QUTN? DO REALLY MATTER?” WELL, Y DO WHEN ALL AROUND YOU AT HOME, SCHOOL, AND ON TV AND FILM IS ASSUMED STRAIGHT; WHERE HETEROSEXUALY IS THE IM MEDIATE FLT. WHEN YOU’RE THE ISOLATED GAY KID YOUR OWN SERT, WHY NOT LOOK TO THE OASIS OF BERT AND ERNIE, NOT FTG TO THE TABLISHED ORR THEIR OWN WAY, AND ASK SOME QUTNS OF THEM AND MAYBE YOURSELF. SUCH QUTNS N BE LIBERATG AND NOURISHG.“WHY THE NEED TO FE PEOPLE AS ONLY GAY?” ASKS OZ THAT TWEET. “THERE'S MUCH MORE TO A HUMAN BEG THAN JT STRAIGHTNS OR GAYNS.” Y, WE ALL NTA MULTUS. BUT NEHER SALTZMAN, NOT THE VIEWERS WHO SEE BERT AND ERNIE AS GAY, SEE THEM AS JT GAY. BERT, ERNIE, AND GAY PEOPLE ARE MANY THGS, OF WHICH BEG GAY IS ONE, VERY IMPORTANT PART. IN THE TEMPT OF MENT THE BT PART OF THIS AFTERNOON'S BROUHAHA, THE MOST MEANGFUL PART OF , ME THE QUEERTY TERVIEW. “SAME WORKSHOP AND FRANK OZ ME ALONG WH THEIR FLAMG TORCH OF HETEROSEXUAL RIGHTEONS AND PUT AN END TO THE TTH AND MAGIC.” THERE, A TV WRER UNABLE TO OVERTLY WRE ABOUT GAY RELATNSHIPS ON SCREEN, FOUND A WAY TO EN SOME KD OF TTH ABOUT THEM AN ADORABLE PAIR OF TV PUPPETS. SOME GAYS PICKED UP ON , SOME FOUND SOMETHG THERE, SOME DIDN’T.THE LOVELIT THG IS THAT THIS ACT OF BRAVERY AND DISSENSN FOUND SUCH AN AFFECTNATE OUTLET BERT AND ERNIE. AS WH THE BT KD OF WRG, TRANSMTED A SURFACE MSAGE AND THEN A WHOLE BUNCH OF OTHER ON RECEIVED DIFFERENTLY BY PEOPLE WATCHG.INSTEAD OF G OUT TO SUPPORT AND ENDORSE SALTZMAN'S WRG, THIS BRAVERY, AND THE NDOR THAT SALTZMAN SPOKE WH—HE WAS REVEALG PART OF HIS LIFE TODAY, PART OF A LOVE STORY—SAME WORKSHOP AND FRANK OZ ME ALONG WH THEIR FLAMG TORCH OF HETEROSEXUAL RIGHTEONS AND PUT AN END TO THE TTH AND MAGIC. THEY DISMISSED SALTZMAN, THE POWER OF HIS WORDS, AND HIS TENTN BEHD WRG THEM. THEY DISMISSED HIS RELATNSHIP WH GLASSMAN.SO, Y WAS AN ABSURD MEDIA STORM SOME WAYS. AND SOME OTHER WAYS BERT AND ERNIE: GAY OR NOT, PART 244, WAS UTTERLY SER. THANKS TO SALTZMAN’S WORDS YOU FIRST SAW A BRIEF GLIMPSE OF GAY HISTORY LOVGLY UNEARTHED AND TOLD, AND YOU SAW HOW THAT LTLE PIECE OF GAY HISTORY WAS EMBEDD AT THE CENTER OF A PIECE OF BELOVED POP-CULTURE. AND THEN, PRSGLY, YOU SAW THE BUBBLE OF OUTRAGE AND NIAL AT THIS MUTE -OPTG OF TURF, AND A MISERLY TERMATN TO MAKE THAT LTLE PIECE OF TURF AS STRAIGHT AS POSSIBLE AGA AS SOON AS POSSIBLE, A BATE CURLY SHORN OF THE MORE SER ISSU RAISED. WHY IS THERE SUCH A LACK OF POSIVE LGBT REPRENTATN FOR YOUNG PEOPLE; AND WHAT IS SO WRONG WH THE IA OF GAY CHARACTERS BEG PRENTED TO YOUNG PEOPLE GENERALLY? THE SHAME HERE IS ON TV PRODUCERS AND PANI LACKG URAGE, NOT ON THE PEOPLE READG WHATEVER THEY LIKE TO BERT AND ERNIE. JT SO YOU KNOW, THAT JT-UNR-AN-HOUR AND TWENTY MUT OF LIBERATN, BERT AND ERNIE HAD AN ABSOLUTE BLAST NEW YORK CY. THEY PLAYED THREE GAM OF POOL, AND BERT REALLY DID DO HIS FULL-ON PL NEWMAN/HTLER IMPRSN, WHICH MA ERNIE FLHED. THE SILVER FOX TOLD THEM ABOUT THIS PLACE WH GO-GO BOYS, AND SO THEY SHED THERE BY B AND STUFFED TWENTI TO A HANDSOME DANCER'S TIGHTY-WHI. THEY WENT TO THE LGBT CENTER ON 13TH STREET, MARVELED AT ALL THE MUNY GROUPS, HAD FFEE THE URTYARD, RECEIVED THEIR FANS, AND THEN LOAD UP WH BOOKS OM BGSQD. THEY RELISHED THE ECHO-Y OL OF THE KEH HARG PISSOIR.BERT AND ERNIE WERE MAKG MERRY HELL'S KCHEN WHEN THEY SAW THE FORBIDDG CLOSET B ROLL DOWN 9TH AVENUE. THEN, PFFFTT, EVERYTHG WENT BLACK AGA. Y, WAS A VERY SILLY AFTERNOON. 'NIGHT BERT. 'NIGHT ERNIE. TIM TEEMAN

Sce began airg 2013, Steven Universe has featured multiple queer characters and relatnships, cludg a gay weddg (wh a kiss! 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. Bee if you ignore the fact that blatantly exists to rerce heteronormativy a children’s show, yeah, I gus Same Workshop’s statement uld be terpreted as jt clearg up the Same Street as Saltzman clarified an terview wh the New York Tim today that was fely not done unr prsure om Same Workshop, he never actually said Bert and Ernie were gay.

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

” The distctn is small, but matters, not least of all bee leav room for plsible niabily on the part of Same Workshop and other, ls forward-thkg members of the team behd Same Street’s inilly gay puppets. But ’s a cisn supported by homophobia and outdated, rrect views about queerns, which are the only reasons that Bert and Ernie shouldn’t jo the pantheon of officially sanctned Same Street Muppet upl—right next to Osr and beg said, there’s another si to the subjective nature of Saltzman’s refully word terview, and works favor of Same Street’s more progrsive dience, rather than those who would mimize Bert and Ernie’s queerns: Regardls of how and why Bert and Ernie were created, thanks to Saltzman, we now know that for 15 years they were specifilly wrten to be a gay uple, moled after one man’s relatnship wh the love of his life.

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

Even though Bert and Ernie officially aren't gay, next week's ver of The New Yorker featur Same Street's not-gay gay cultural ins celebratg this week's Supreme Court lgs, which is sweet if you don't overthk : Ameri's most famo men love fally have the official acceptance of article is om the archive of our partner though Bert and Ernie officially aren't gay, next week's ver of The New Yorker featur Same Street's not-gay gay cultural ins celebratg this week's Supreme Court lgs, which is sweet if you don't overthk : Ameri's most famo men love fally have the official acceptance of Ameri.

Of urse, Same Street and the pany of founr Jim Henson has sisted many tim that the orange and yellow pals are neher straight nor gay nor transgenr or anythg else: "They rema puppets, and do not have a sexual orientatn, " or so go public televisn's party le. As , Muppets n't have sex or aren't supposed to be overtly human, and spe the new legal regnn of all, the two probably won't be havg that big gay TV marriage everyone wants. Bert and Ernie, if they were gay and wanted to and if Same Street was New York, uld have gotten married the state two years ago, and uld now have regnized by the feral ernment.

'SAME STREET' WRER NFIRMS BERT AND ERNIE ARE GAY, AND TWTER N’T HANDLE

But the artist sists that the msage isn't specific so much as a symbol to help keep teachg children about gay rights. 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. If Bert and Ernie are not gay they're not gay but your exce n't be that they're puppets.

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

'SAME STREET' WRER WALKS BACK HIS STATEMENT ABOUT BERT AND ERNIE BEG GAY

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. In a week that's been marked by one of the most signifint steps forward for gay rights the Uned Stat, a lot of people are celebratg… cludg rints of Same Street. After all, when the characters buted 1969, was exceedgly mon for gay men to refer to their partners as "roommat, " and the tight relatnship between the adult Bert and Ernie-- they share a bedroom and do everythg together-- often read to adult ey as a mted, monogamo relatnship.

Two years ago, when New York State legalized gay marriage, a petn emerged askg Same Street to allow Bert and Ernie to get married.