So Are Bert and Ernie from ‘Sesame Street’ Gay or Not?

They’re the world’s most iconic same-sex duo. But we all know the real question: were Bert and Ernie bumping felt uglies?

The long, drawn-out saga of whether Bert and Ernie are actually lovers took an interesting turn on Tuesday when queer outlet Queerty published an interview with gay Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman, who confirmed that, when he wrote for the show, he wrote Bert and Ernie as a couple.

Saltzman remembered one time a mom wrote a column in the San Francisco Chronicle detailing a preschooler’s question about whether Bert and Ernie were lovers.

“I always felt that, without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were. I didn’t have any other way to contextualize them,” he said. Saltzman said that in addition, several people referred to him and his partner, Arnie, as Bert and Ernie. 

The internet kinda went into a tizzy over the news, leading Sesame Street Workshop to release a statement denying that Ernie and Bert have a sexual relationship.

https://twitter.com/SesameWorkshop/status/1042117602678587395

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

So … y’all are just gonna call my boy Saltzman a liar?

Plenty of people are already on board with Bert and Ernie’s relationship. After the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage legal in the United States, the New Yorker featured a cover with the two muppets embracing.