Kory here. The afternoon DJ on Mix 96, and an openly queer person. I just want to weigh in on the popular story that a writer ‘outted’ Burt & Ernie.
While that is true-ish…it’s not actually what was said in that Queerty interview with former Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman:
Ok, so we have to address—that’s the big question, right? In the writer’s room, you’re all adults. Were you thinking of Bert & Ernie as a gay couple? Did that question ever come up?
I remember one time that a column from The San Francisco Chronicle, a preschooler in the city turned to mom and asked “are Bert & Ernie lovers?” And that, coming from a preschooler was fun. And that got passed around, and everyone had their chuckle and went back to it. And I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were. I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them. The other thing was, more than one person referred to Arnie & I as “Bert & Ernie.”
This artist saw the characters as gay, he didn’t say they actually were. It doesn’t matter what one person thinks of the characters, they are non-sexualized (what a concept) PUPPETS!
Sesame Street replied on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/SesameWorkshop/status/1042117602678587395?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1042117602678587395&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Ftwitter.com%2FSesameWorkshop%2Fstatus%2F1042117602678587395
What do you think of all of this?
Disclaimer: This article contains the opinions of Kory alone and do not necessarily represent the views of Mix 96, it’s parent company Bonneville International, or it’s employees, management or advertisers.