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Aren't they canonically gay now?
Edit: idgaf if they're actually gay I just remember hearing a lot of people talk about that and I'm tryna figure out if it was just homophobic bullshit
They were always intended to be gay, and were based off a real life gay couple. "Really gay" was always a nudge nudge deal rather than openly admitted fact.
Frank Oz, who previously performed as Bert, stated Bert and Ernie were not gay, saying,
"They're not, of course, a gay couple. But why that question? Does it really matter? Why the need to define people as only gay? There's much more to a human being than just straightness or gayness."[17][18]Sesame Street went on to clarify further, stating:
"No, Bert and Ernie aren't gay - they're 'best friends'".[19]The Gaystar News reported that fans reacted negatively to this assertion. Frank Oz later tweeted in September 2018
A last thought: If Jim and I had created Bert and Ernie as gay characters they would be inauthentic, coming from two straight men. However, I have now learned that many view them as representative of a loving gay relationship. And that's pretty wonderful. Thanks for helping me understand.[20][21]So, I would say they weren't intended that way from the start but only because the writers didn't think to do so. Frank Oz is a great reference for these things, and if he says "I love how you see them as representation" then that's good enough for me.
Aw that's sweet. 🥰
I know! How enlightened and humble that answer was!
Agreed, thanks for sharing it.
No they weren’t.
They were created in the 60’s, the writer who head-cannoned they were gay wrote for them in the 80s.
Officially and historically they are not gay.
And it's okay for them to be hetro life-mates, or bffs, or whatever. It's okay for people to head cannon them as gay if they like, but all they were ever intended to represent was a kind and loving friendship between two dudes who were fundamentally different. By the same token, love, kindness, and actually being friends with your partner is important even in a romantic relationship. Bert and Ernie are good role models for any relationship really, as they were meant to be.
Booooooo