Mark Saltzman, a former writer on Sesame Street, revealed that Bert and Ernie were gay — “at least for the two decades he was writing for the children’s program,” The Daily Mail reported.
“My activism isn’t a hit the streets variety, and what Sesame Street was doing racially, you certainly don’t want to denounce it,” Saltzman said. “I would have liked to have been the first writer to do the ‘two mommy’ episode.”
Saltzman said that a child was the one who pointed out the close bond between Bert and Ernie.
“I remember one time that a column from San Francisco Chronicle, a preschooler in the city turned to mom and asked ‘are Bert and Ernie lovers?’ And that, coming from a preschooler was fun,” Saltzman said. “And that got passed around, and everyone had their chuckle and went back to it.”
Saltzman went on to discuss how Bert and Ernie were like his partner and himself.
“More than one person referred Arnie and I as ‘Bert and Ernie,'” Saltzman said.
Saltzman saw himself as Ernie, but said he looked “more Bert-ish.” Arnie is a film editor, which Saltzman thinks would be a perfect fit for Bert.
“So it was the Bert and Ernie relationship, and I was already with Arnie when I came to Sesame Street,” Saltzman said. “So I don’t think I’d know how else to write them but as a loving couple. I wrote sketches … Arnie’s OCD would create friction with how chaotic I was. And that’s the Bert and Ernie dynamic.”
The two characters lived together since 1969, the show’s premiere, at their apartment at 123 Sesame Street.
Many called for a petition for Bert and Ernie to be married in 2011, but Sesame Street Workshop shut that down.
Sesame Street continued to refute the claim of the two being a couple today.
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Please see our statement below regarding Bert and Ernie. pic.twitter.com/6r2j0XrKYu
ā€” Sesame Workshop (@SesameWorkshop) September 18, 2018
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Sesame Street wrote in their statement, “As we have always said, 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 puppet and od not have a sexual orientation.”