Why would they think children’s puppets are gay? Especially when these puppets haven’t really grown up. What am I talking about? You probably don’t want to know as it’s one of the silliest things I’ve seen in a long time but this is the article. I could understand if they had been created especially to help children understand about being gay but these ones weren’t, they were created to entertain and teach preschoolers about friendship.

You’ve probably seen that some countries are supporting marriage equality meaning gays can marry each other. I’ve always said being gay is a fad and that it’ll pass, for some it may take many decades, I’ve heard of gay couples that have been together for 50 years. It may or may not be a fad but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t be allowed to have a good life and a good relationship. Anyway, that’s all rather irrelevant as I’m here to have a good old rant about Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street. Following the US Supreme Court’s landmark ruling to overturn the Defence of Marriage Act the magazine called New Yorker decided to answer the question of whether Bert and Ernie are gay by showing them having a cuddle moment in front of tele.

Why, in any God’s name would they do something so stupid? This statement came from Sesame Workshop when someone else was talking about the non-issue back in 2011 and is still relevant today:

“[Bert and Ernie] were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves,” the statement said. “Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”

And that’s how it should be. I’m not saying don’t teach your child about tolerance and gayness but this ‘couple’ were created as friends and not as a couple.

What homosexual tendencies in Green Eggs and Ham? My feeling is that if you’re seeing homosexual tendencies in children’s books then you’ve obviously got a problem with it and that generally means you’re gay yourself. I can take a book or a TV programme and find whatever I like in it so I shouldn’t be surprised with people seeing gayness in children’s books. When I was young I read the Narnia series and didn’t see the quite overt Christian symbolism now I can and I dismiss it as irrelevant to me and my enjoyment of the stories.

The most important things reading and Sesame Street can teach us is tolerance and to be open to new ideas. Sesame Street goes above and beyond to teach tolerance, the muppets are of all different sizes, shapes and colours while the real people are also of different sizes, shapes and colours. Just as an aside, did you know The Pointer Sisters have been in 18 different episodes of Sesame Street? And that it’s been going since 1969? It must be doing a good job if it’s still going since 1969. The programme also teaches children coping techniques so they can learn to cope at school, I see it as a valuable addition to any child’s education so long as the adults can stop seeing things that aren’t there.