The debate over the sexuality of beloved Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie rages on despite a statement by Sesame Street released in 2011 in which the television show officially deemed the two characters “asexual.”
In 2011, following the New York State Legislature’s passage of the Marriage Equality Act, the LGBTQ community fiercely campaigned for Bert and Ernie to be married to one another, prompting Sesame Street to release a statement in which the show declared that the two characters are merely good friends and have never been gay. In fact, the statement scoffed at the notion of interjecting sexuality and controversy into a children’s program featuring puppets, who, despite having human characteristics, are in fact puppets and, therefore, are incapable of sexuality:
Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who...