--- title: Sesame Street Responds to Claims That Bert and Ernie Are Gay description: A former writer for the Muppets said he considered Bert and Ernie to be gay — and Sesame Street quickly refuted his interpretation canonical: https://time.com/5399940/sesame-street-bert-ernie-gay/ author: Raisa Bruner article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-09-18T20:20:12.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:47:14.033Z og:title: Sesame Street Was Just Forced to Issue a Clarification About Bert and Ernie's Sexuality og:description: The writer says he always thought of them as a "loving couple" og:url: https://time.com/5399940/sesame-street-bert-ernie-gay/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b128ca451e416fc/69893a8de76ad2826d63305b/bert-ernie-sesame-street.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3000 og:image:height: 1688 og:image:alt: 40th anniversary of Sesame Street in Germany og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Sesame Street Was Just Forced to Issue a Clarification About Bert and Ernie's Sexuality twitter:description: The writer says he always thought of them as a "loving couple" twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt9b128ca451e416fc/69893a8de76ad2826d63305b/bert-ernie-sesame-street.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Sesame Street Says Bert And Ernie 'Don't Have a Sexual Orientation' After Longtime Writer Claims They're Gay > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ## Video: How Sesame Street Has Always Been Pushing the Envelope [Watch (HLS stream): How Sesame Street Has Always Been Pushing the Envelope](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/gVle6ToG.m3u8) (1:55)  _Published 2017-04-05. The newest muppet, Julia, has been lauded for representing kids with autism, but Sesame Street has a long history of being as inclusive as possible._  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 18, 2018 8:20 PM UTC  Sesame Street Muppets Ernie and Bert pose for photographs during a press conference on the 40th anniversary of the Sesame Street in Hamburg, Germany, 07 January 2013. Sesame Street Muppets Ernie and Bert pose for photographs during a press conference on the 40th anniversary of the Sesame Street in Hamburg, Germany, 07 January 2013. picture alliance—picture alliance via Getty Images  by [Raisa Bruner](https://time.com/author/raisa-bruner/)  ## Raisa Bruner Sep 18, 2018 8:20 PM UTC A former writer for [_Sesame Street_](http://time.com/5297032/sesame-street-lawsuit-happytime-murders/) said in a recent interview that he considered Bert and Ernie to be gay — but the show rebutted this claim, saying the puppets “do not have a sexual orientation.” The most recent back-and-forth over Bert and Ernie’s sexual orientation came after former _Sesame Street_ writer Mark Saltzman, who worked for the show from 1981 until 1990, discussing his career writing scripts for [The Muppets](http://time.com/4852111/kermit-frog-whitmire/) in an [interview with Queerty](https://www.queerty.com/exclusive-bert-ernie-couple-finally-answer-20180916). “I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert & Ernie, they were \[gay\],” Saltzman said. “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,'” he added, referring to his own partner. --- > “” --- The Sesame Workshop refuted Saltzman’s interpretation, calling Bert and Ernie “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 characters do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation,” Sesame Workshop said in a statement on Twitter. --- > “” --- > [](https://twitter.com/SesameWorkshop/status/1042117602678587395) The discussion prompted swift reaction from longtime Sesame Street fans on social media. > [](https://twitter.com/oureric/status/1042124123781193731) > [](https://twitter.com/TheFrankOzJam/status/1042118820142436352) > [](https://twitter.com/LuxAlptraum/status/1042127268032798720) > [](https://twitter.com/tobinlow/status/1042113384592957441) > [](https://twitter.com/huckleberryduck/status/1042131098174738432) ## Transcript [ SOUND ] Hi [ UNKNOWN ]. Elmo. Critics are hailing the arrival of Julia, the autistic Muppet, as groundbreaking. My friend Julia, she has autism. So it takes her a while to take in the environment, just a little bit differently It took Sesame Workshop more than five years to creat her. But she's part of Sesame Street's long history of featuring differently- abled characters. How come you use that wheelchair, Tarah? My legs don't work too well, so I use this chair to get around. See? Is signing, because Linda's deaf. The show has a mission to bridge all kinds of cultural gaps all over the world. It doesn't matter where I go and how much I love it and how nice people are. I still feel like an Indian, no matter where I am. [ MUSIC ] [ FOREIGN ] They don't want to touch me because they think I will make them sick. But Kami, we all know you can't get HIV just by touching someone or by being friends with them. Sesame Street's approach was not always welcome. In 1970 the state commission for educational television in Mississippi banned the show on public television for a month because of its integrated cast. But 47 years later the show persists in highlighting diversity. There's another thing you have in common Big Bird, Julia likes to sing. Yeah. So Julia may be the first muppet with autism, but on Sesame Street she's just one of the gang. We can all be friends. It feels a little better when we all play together. 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