• @lugal@sopuli.xyz
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        126 months ago

        Not canonically. I think one of the writers is gay but said he never intended them to be a couple. If that’s true is for no one to know for sure and your head canon is for no one to judge

      • @Mongostein@lemmy.ca
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        6 months ago

        No idea. I haven’t watched Sesame Street since the early 90s, but it makes a lot of sense from what I remember about them.

        Also it’s fun to say they are to piss off the people who care so much about shit that doesn’t matter.

  • @ThatWeirdGuy1001@lemmy.world
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    6 months ago

    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

    • @wildginger@lemmy.myserv.one
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      106 months ago

      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.

      • flicker
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        566 months ago

        From Wikipedia:

        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.

      • Deceptichum
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        166 months ago

        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.

        • @deathbird@mander.xyz
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          96 months ago

          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.