It's Breaking News, and a Sigh Heard 'Round the World

Remember learning about the “shot heard around the world?”


There was something similar last week. It was a widespread and collective sigh of relief heard ‘round the world.

You heard it, didn’t you? It was the response to the headline-grabbing news that Bert and Ernie would not be getting married.

Yes, right in there with joblessness, the economy, the stock market, the war in Afghanistan, missing children and more, we learned from Sesame Street folks that the popular Muppets would not be getting hitched.


Bert & Ernie photo from their Facebook page


Bert and Ernie, you see, are both males and they’ve been roommates a long time. Recently, there was a petition encouraging Bert and Ernie just to go ahead and tie the knot, now that gay marriages are legal in New York.

Sesame Street responded that the two wouldn’t be getting married: "They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves."

The explanation is that Bert and Ernie wouldn’t be legalizing a relationship that didn’t exist; they are simply roommates and good friends with “no sexual orientation.”

I say “hooray” to the Sesame Street crowd but my “hooray” has nothing to do with whether or not Bert and Ernie are gay. I’m just sick and tired of issues being injected where they don’t belong.

Bert and Ernie, modeled on a banana and an orange when created, were introduced in 1969. They are puppets, for goodness sakes.

Whether Bert and Ernie are gay or not shouldn’t even be addressed on this children’s show.

Like the Sesame Street statement said, they are around to teach tolerance and friendship “with those who are very different from themselves.”

Besides, we’re told these two puppets have no sexual orientation at all.

Now, isn’t that different enough?


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