The Mellotron Group

In a message dated 11/10/2009 8:42:11 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,  
pocotron@yahoo.com writes:

 
I shall never  doubt the sophistication of this group again……simply 
brilliant…..where is Mike  Dickson’s cutting edge wit when you need it? J   


 
Bert and Ernie  Aren't Gay: Muppet Scandals
(Nov. 9) -- Many stars have had to fight persistent rumors  about their 
sexuality. And in that way, Ernie and Bert are no different than  John Travolta 
and Tom Cruise. 

I've recounted the stories about the  infamous "Ernie and Bert are gay" 
rumor probably more times than Count Von Count  can count. But with "Sesame 
Street" celebrating its _40th  anniversary_ 
(http://news.aol.com/article/big-birds-still-huge-as-sesame-street/754379)  on Tuesday, I'm going to take it as 
an opportunity to rehash  that same silly rumor one more time. 


 
Bongarts/Getty Images


Of course, the  sexuality of other cartoon characters has come into 
question over the years.  Anti-gay groups have accused SpongeBob SquarePants and 
Tinky Winky of the  "Teletubbies" of harboring a homosexual agenda, even while 
most people with half  a brain were saying, "They're just children's 
characters." 

Bert and  Ernie's lifestyle choices, however, didn't help matters. They 
share a room, and  a bedroom, if not a bed. They bicker like husband and wife. 
They frequently  break out in song. One has a curious obsession with his 
rubber  ducky.

From the very first "Sesame Street" episode, Ernie can be seen  taking a 
bath with Bert in the room -- and that makes a lot of guys  uncomfortable.

 
'They Don't Exist Below the Waist'
The  controversy hit a fever pitch in 1994, when the Rev. Joseph Chambers 
called for  the characters to be banned.

"They share clothes, eat and cook together  and have blatantly effeminate 
characteristics. In one show Bert teaches Ernie  how to sew. In another they 
tend plants together," the Southern evangelist said  on his radio show. "If 
this isn't meant to represent a homosexual union, I can't  imagine what it's 
supposed to represent."


At one point, the Children's Television Workshop, the  nonprofit 
educational organization behind "Sesame Street," even issued a  denial.

"Bert and Ernie, who've been on Sesame Street for 25 years, do  not portray 
a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the  future. They 
are puppets, not humans," the organization said in a statement.  "Like all 
the Muppets created for 'Sesame Street,' they were designed to help  educate 
preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to  
children that despite their differences, they can be good friends."

Years  later, Gary Knell, president of Children's Television Workshop 
successor Sesame  Workshop, would say, "They are not gay. They are not straight. 
... They don't  exist below the waist."