So, we're all familiar with iconic Sesame Street residents Bert and Ernie, correct?
There has always been a lot of speculation around the pair's relationship. Are they friends? Are they more than friends? Are they just roommates who (barely) put up with each other?
Well, we finally have a concrete answer. During a recent Queerty interview with Mark Saltzman, a writer for Sesame Street in the '80s, he revealed that Bert and Ernie were, in fact, written as a "loving couple."
"I always felt that, without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were [gay]," Mark said. "I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them...I don’t think I’d know how else to write them but as a loving couple."
Not only that, but Saltzman said he actually based Bert and Ernie on HIS OWN relationship with Arnold Glassman, a film editor.
"That’s what I had in my life, a Bert and Ernie relationship. How could it not permeate? The things that would tick off Arnie would be the things that would tick off Bert," Saltzman said.
And Bert and Ernie weren't the ONLY characters Saltzman felt resonated with young gay audiences, as he also imagined Big Bird's invisible friend Snuffleupagus (Snuffy for short) as a relatable queer icon.
"Those two and Snuffleupagus, because he’s sort of a clinically depressed Muppet…you had characters that appealed to a gay audience," Saltzman said. "Snuffy is this depressed person nobody can see."
Naturally, the internet EXPLODED with this information.
Bert and Ernie were just confirmed gay and Snuffy was a closeted depressed gay how was this not the #1 trending news story today this is the most important cultural event of our time https://t.co/flzSjEjb2e
Because, while they've always been icons of the LGBT community, it's still nice to have it confirmed/made official by the person who wrote for them.
Bert and Ernie and Frog and Toad really were the gay icons of our childhood... love them
And, TBH, this is the only news that matters today.
I don't care about the salacious news today. The important thing is that the writer responsible for Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie has put to rest straight folks' denial and confirmed that they're a couple and that he, sweetly, modeled them after himself and his partner.
So let all of the rumors lay to rest. Bert and Ernie are OFFICIALLY a loving couple, and all is right on Sesame Street.
View this video on YouTube
UPDATE
The Sesame Workshop has tweeted this in response to Saltzman's quotes about Bert and Ernie:
Please see our statement below regarding Bert and Ernie.