Sesame Workshop Statement on Bert and Ernie Petitions

by Sesame Workshop on Thursday, August 11, 2011 at 9:00am ·

Bert and Ernie are best friends.  They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.

 

Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets™ do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.


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  • Tomoko Kawai, Julia Dahlin, Adrian Silberman and 357 others like this.
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    • Matt Soscia Great answer Sesame Workshop! takes care of the issue so elegantly and impartially.
      August 15, 2011 at 12:49am · 1
    • Aryeh David Juullaay Zucker Homosexuals truly are the new black people.
      August 15, 2011 at 2:17am
    • Patti Petry ‎@Michele Dicks-Thank You for sharing this scripture....I have NEVER seen it this way until now :D
      God Bless ♥
      August 15, 2011 at 9:46am
    • Cj Sánchez
      What a bunch of haters- and I'm not talking abut the jealous kind! This is a show on diversity and yet, many of you just don't get it. Ultimately, they're just muppets and don't have a sexual orientation..., but if they did, I have no dou...bt that Sesame Street would support them to do what they want to do. As adults, we over think all this stuff on sexuality et al. Children, on the other hand are, well, children. They love everybody and when they have questions, that's where we come into play. It's our duty to teach them the wonders of the world and curiosities of life. Peace.See More
      August 15, 2011 at 11:39am · 3
    • Mabel Lee
      ‎@ Jeroen de Cloe, thanks for your comment, it's the most logical and entertaining thus far. And yet, Michele Dicks continues to quote from the Bible in a manner that I agree is egotistical and blinded. Not everyone in the world gives a hoo...t about what the Bible says, even though I know most of what I say here is a lost cause on those who understand the world inside their own boxes; please understand that some people actually can form opinions and create standards of morality for themselves, so please stop taking advantage of spaces like this to proselytize. @ Andrey Cecilano: " so you compare yourself with an animal species?" I think you're actually missing the point of Michael's comment. If you actually followed the whole thread, it was, in fact, Valorie who compared humans with dogs; Michael was trying to make a distinction between the two while at the same time making it clear that off-hand, shallow comments like "you don't see two dogs humping each otherr" were actually made in ignorance.See More
      August 15, 2011 at 1:01pm · 1
    • Cj Sánchez The "Lord" doesn't have anything to do with it! Get with the program Michele!
      August 15, 2011 at 1:10pm
    • Terri Eagen-Torkko
      No, Michele, you're quoting some guy who told others what he thought God said. Or maybe the guy who translated that story into his own language. Or maybe the guy's grandson who wrote that part of what became the bible. But God? You are not ...quoting God. God is love, not hate. God is acceptance. Take a look at what Jesus said, what he did, and with whom he spent his time, then tell me again how I'm going to hell because I have a wife. It's poppycock. You're just WRONG.See More
      August 15, 2011 at 1:41pm
    • Rachel Valentine
      All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: 2 Timothy 3:16

      1My friends, you are spiritual. So if someone is trapped in sin, you should gentl...y lead that person back to the right path. But watch out, and don't be tempted yourself. Galatians 6:1

      None of us (Christians that are against homosexuality) want to stone the homosexuals, or send them to hell. We want to help them escape from sin as the Bible (which we believe in, although many of you don't) instructs us to do. Well at least the people that I know.      See More
      August 15, 2011 at 4:51pm · 1
    • Rachel Valentine ‎@Terri, of course Jesus spent time with the "less desirables". Who needs help more than the people most trapped in their sins?

      40And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me. Matthew 25:40
      August 15, 2011 at 5:14pm
    • Terri Eagen-Torkko
      If all y'all spent half of the time and energy you spend on hating "those people" actually DOING GOOD WORKS, imagine the kind of love you'd foster in the world. Instead, you do this. What a sad existence you lead. I'll pray that you are abl...e to rid your soul of the hatred and judgment of others in order to truly received Christ's love and do the work of loving and serving all people. Hate fosters hate. I wouldn't want to see what's next for you.See More
      August 15, 2011 at 5:43pm
    • Rachel Valentine
      Because the things we have said clearly show a deep hatred for people (this is sarcasm). Not a love of God and agreeing with His statement "not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance."

      I don't want anyon...e to go to Hell. If I anger 6 billion people (I think that is roughly the world population) with what I say, but save one from eternal damnation, so be it!

      Good works are worthless in the quest for salvation. There is no way to heaven except through Jesus Christ. Not to discredit helping people, which is wonderful. But the true calling for Christians is to lead other people to the Lord. Which can be accomplished through good works, or through other means.      See More
      August 15, 2011 at 5:51pm · 1
    • Terri Eagen-Torkko ‎"If this is going to be a Christian nation that doesn’t help the poor, either we’ve got to pretend that Jesus was just as selfish as we are, or we’ve got to acknowledge that he commanded us to love the poor and serve the needy without condition — and then admit that we just don’t want to do it." - Stephen Colbert
      August 15, 2011 at 6:46pm · 2
    • Rachel Valentine I didn't say that I don't love the poor and serve the needy. My husband and I donate 10% of our income to causes that help the needy and poor. I have cried when I see homeless people on the corners begging for money. I used to give them money, until I heard more and more stories about them being frauds and just drug addicts/alcoholics that use the money for drugs/alcohol.
      August 15, 2011 at 9:22pm
    • Rachel Valentine I just don't think it has anything to do with if I am going to heaven or not.
      August 15, 2011 at 9:25pm
    • Matt Soscia also E and B sleep in different beds. remember "E" and "B" on the headboards.
      August 15, 2011 at 9:56pm
    • Denise Standing Thank you for continuing making Sesame Street a kids show! Kids don't need to know anymore at this age. It would be highly INAPPROPRIATE to do anything like this nonsense petition.
      August 16, 2011 at 11:24pm · 1
    • Terri Eagen-Torkko ‎"Inappropriate" is subjective.
      August 18, 2011 at 5:43am
    • Coady Nickerson
      One of the worst things about our society is accusing everyone who has a really close relationship with any gender as a sexual relationship. We are an oversexualized society.

      While, I think it would be great (and important) to have same-s...ex partners on Sesame Street shown in a normal every day way, I think it's important to keep Bert and Ernie as close friends and to not sexualize every close relationship we have because it looks gay to others.

      @Christopher Strenge you have an interesting sense of what "pushing breeders agenda" is. Inter-species breeding is more taboo than homosexuality. Just saying. lol. Sesame Street is pushing interbreeding. What will Kermit and Piggy breed? I think you pushed that a bit far. Although, I agree that Sesame Street lacks same-sex relationships.

      While I've never considered Bert and Ernie gay, if they were-- why in the world we ever want to force marriage on them? Maybe they're happy the way they are... why do we need to force marriage as the standard way to show your true love? Both Ernie and Bert seem really secure in their relationship (whatever that may be), as is. Let them be.

      As a child, I just considered them kids... probably brothers... or roommates. I doubt kids care because it's not an issue. Bert and Ernie represent close friends. They are written for children to relate to... any way that kids want. They aren't necessarily meant to reflect reality. I doubt they added genitals to the puppets...

      My recommendation would be keep Bert and Ernie as best friends/roommates and add characters who are gay, lesbian, bi, and hey, even polygamist. :O      See More
      August 18, 2011 at 6:04am
    • Coady Nickerson
      ‎@Denise Standing, I'd have to disagree that kids don't need to know more. Nor am I sure how it would be inappropriate.

      I think it would be a a dumb move and ruin my child's idea of being able to maintain a same-sex friendship without it ...turning into marriage, but you make it sound like kids seeing two people of the same sex holding hands would destroy their little worlds.

      I'm fairly certain it wouldn't. It's not like sesame street would teach about the technicalities of how men and men or women and women would have sex...      See More
      August 18, 2011 at 6:09am
    • Jennifer Standridge
      Thank you Sesame Street Workshop for standing firm on this issue. My family supports you 100%

      Bert and Ernie's enduring friendship regardless of their differences is a lesson for everyone. It does teach tolerance and how to remain friends ...with someone even if you disagree on various subjects. My concern is that if you take that away that boys and girls alike are going to start wondering if people are going to think they are gay by maintaining a long running friendship with someone of the same sex. People might think that is a ridiculous statement, but is it really anymore ridiculous than making Bert & Ernie gay to teach 3 year olds about homosexuality?

      I don't want my 4 year old daughter taught about homosexuality anymore than I want her to be taught about heterosexuality. Personally, I prefer she be taught where rainbows come from, debate whether or not fairies are real, and whether or not we live on Earth (my daughter says that we live on the Moon and that the Moon is actually Earth, it's a continual debate in our house - strange, yes, I know). I listen to her thoughts on Halloween and how she wants to decorate the living room (Ghostie, Skeleton, Ghostie, Skeleton, Ghostie, Skeleton, Ghostie - in case you were wondering) and what she wants to dress up as. Amazing how not a single on of our conversations includes sex - regardless of the orientation.

      I wish the world as a whole would remember that these children are just that - children. They should be protected, nurtured, encouraged, allowed to wear a cape to school on a Tuesday if they want to, wear a giant oversized hat, or dance to music only they can hear. Flying kites, blowing bubbles, coloring, painting, stopping to stare at a ladybug walking on a flower is what childhood should be about.

      Thank You Sesame Street for remembering this and fighting back on behalf of children everywhere!      See More
      August 18, 2011 at 7:55am · 6
    • Coady Nickerson
      ‎@Jennifer, your daughter has never asked about where babies come from? And how they're made? Or why some people don't have mommies or daddies?

      It seems strange that relationships are adult issues. Kids I have known always think about it.... And because of social or religious indoctrination find it unusual when men and men or women with women hold hands or are married. The thing that's important is to show it's normal in society. Sesame Street isn't required to explain the ins and outs of sexuality, but simply to accept relationships and diversity as normal, the same as you would as the men who live together down the street who hold hands walking by the house. Sometimes homosexuals exist in real life. lol.

      If your child never cares about it. That's fantastic. But I have a child who thinks about real life things because he's interested in them. He also loves x-men and making up his own super-heroes. Very well adjusted and he knows about relationships in an age-appropriate way.

      To suggest kids shouldn't know about relationships seems unnatural and oppressive. Kids have always known about relationships, and will form their opinions from peers who can corrupt ideas pretty bad. If parents are too shy or don't even think to mention it, I'd rather a show like sesame street mention it in an age-appropriate way rather than get their first ideas from less reliable means.      See More
      August 18, 2011 at 1:52pm · 1
    • Casey Hastings-Liebergen Thank you Sesame Street at least someone will stand up for todays children..... thank you thank you for doing whats right!
      August 22, 2011 at 5:45pm · 1
    • Cristal Paton
      People really take advantage of these petition webpages and how far they take their own opinions. It was wrong to put Sesame Street on the spot that way and totally wrong to pressure them to alter their show based on their own perverse misp...erceptions. That's like claiming you've got "gay-dar" and then using it as a free pass to go around badgering every person you suspect is in the closet until they either come out to you or they punch your lights out.. or release a formal statement telling you that you very much misunderstood who they are.

      As a kid, Bert and Ernie taught me that two very different people can get along and live together despite getting on each others nerves every now and then. They were never romanticized in my young mind, I never heard any other kids my age romanticize them, and 20 years later, I still wouldn't make such a suggestion.

      No matter what you want to believe, their show is just what they say it is. They didn't own any explanations, and if people had any respect, that formal statement should have been enough to end the debate.      See More
      August 23, 2011 at 6:41pm · 1
    • Yvonne Bloodgood
      ‎@ Andrea Stone. I agree... Bert and Ernie, do bicker like a married couple, and it is questionable why two heterosexual males would share a room. However, this show is directed at children and children for the most part do not see color. T...his is a term that well fits the way children see the world. They don't see race, they don't see sexuality, they don't know right or wrong. When they become adolescents they are confused enough about their sexuality. Yes I believe some people are born Homosexual and some are not. But children are very impressionable so the whole point of this statement is to try and tell homosexuals that this is a show for children not them. Children have rights too. Homosexuals should not be trying to push their agenda onto children. I completely respect homosexuals and their lifestyles, you love who you love and you can't help it. But these same sex marriage advocates should respect children and are old enough to know that Sesame Street is not a show for them, it is for children.See More
      August 30, 2011 at 12:07pm
    • Cassandra Engel Aarsen Sesame Street died when Elmo grifted.
      September 5, 2011 at 1:23am
    • Cassandra Engel Aarsen he's like the sarah palin of PBS.
      September 5, 2011 at 1:24am · 1
    • Joshua William M Berkowitz
      I think that Bert and Ernie serve as a good tool for parents to utilize when explaining different relationships to their children. Some girls live together. Some guys live together. Some are like mommy and daddy or mommy and mommy or whatev...er and some are just friends. Why does there need to be an explicit definition to their relationship? Isn't that what we are avoiding? Ambiguity is important. It opens children's minds. It's the adults who have the problem here. I'm gay. I'm going to have kids. If they ever actually watch television Sesame Street will be one of the few things I'll allow because of the diversity it offers unhampered by adult labels.See More
      September 5, 2011 at 7:25am
    • Anthony L. Lopez This is a great message! I am sure Bert and Ernie would appreciate "Kevin Isgor-Locke" performance that reflects unity in diversity!
      September 11, 2011 at 4:17am
    • Richard Rabinowitz Is it true that Bert, Ernie, and Big Bird want to occupy Sesame Street by marching from Zuccotti Park in order to protest the alphabet?
      September 25, 2011 at 10:14pm · 1
    • Richard Rabinowitz Supposedly, the letters "theta", "xi", "lambda", "phi", and "psi", as well as "sigma", have been unemployed due to Greek budget cuts and want to join OUR alphabet.
      September 25, 2011 at 10:28pm
    • Brittny Stephens thank you for posting this statement. I am impressed! My two year old LOVES sesame street. Thank you for all you do.
      September 30, 2011 at 6:58pm
    • Kim Dowd Sesame Street is for preschoolers, how dare those people who want to take something as wonderful as bert and ernie's friendship and turn it in to an adult debate
      October 8, 2011 at 7:09pm · 2
    • Micah Brock Wow, way for some comments to suggest that asexuality is either discriminatory or doesn't exist. Makes asexuals like myself feel great about themselves, since only straight and gay people are allowed to feel like they matter.
      October 12, 2011 at 9:25pm · 1
    • Kylie Mcclelland recommend this link www.extremeparentingdisability.com
      October 15, 2011 at 1:31am
    • Anne-Marie Mills OMG...so many ppl here need a MAJOR ENEMA !! They're PUPPETS ppl !!!! PUPPETS !! Some of you alljust need to get out in the real world.
      January 6 at 1:43am
    • Emily VanderDonk All Sesame Street muppets are asexual! Awesome!
      January 12 at 4:39am
    • Ingeborg Nordén For what it's worth, I am neither Christian nor lesbian nor a parent. What I *am* is a long-time fan of vintage Sesame Street--who takes a lot of flak from the staff where I live because of the "gay Bert and Ernie" rumors. In vain I've quoted older press releases that stated those rumors were 100 percent false; now I have a more recent one to cite if I need to. Thank you!
      January 12 at 9:45pm