No Gay Marriage for Sesame Street Puppets Bert and Ernie

In spite of an online petition demanding the same-sex marriage of Sesame Street puppets Bert and Ernie, the people running the show have refused to bow to the wish and announced that the relation between the longtime puppet friends will stay as it is.

The petitioners are of the opinion that by creating matrimonial relation between Bert and Ernie, tolerance of homosexual people could be encouraged.

The online petition has been signed by nearly 7,000 pro-gay people, while more than 3,000 have shown their allegiance to the cause by joining a Facebook page titled “Bert and Ernie Get Married.”

But those running the show have rejected the idea in a statement, which read, “They remain puppets and do not have a sexual orientation.”

However, they kept the imagination door open for the petition-backers by adding, “Male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics”.

Bert and Ernie have been on-screen roommates for more than 40 years, although they haven’t shared beds during their lengthy friendship.

The Sesame Workshop also stated, “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.”

The petitioners’ basic demand is: “We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful. It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different.”

Even though Sesame Street was created more than four decades ago by producer Joan Ganz Cooney and psychologist Lloyd Morrisett, it is still broadcasted in more than 140 countries and commands and average audience of 120 million globally.

Source: [BBC]