Sesame Street Voice Actor Loves Idea of Bert & Ernie Relationship

In case you aren't up to date with all the goings-on of our old pals on Sesame Street, two of its most beloved characters have become the subject of controversy recently. Bert and Ernie have long been considered to be a gay couple. And in a recent interview with Queerty, writer Mark Saltzman seemed to confirm that theory, citing his own relationship as inspiration.

Related | Sesame Street Insists Bert & Ernie Are Not Gay, Just 'Best Friends'

"I remember one time that a column from The San Francisco Chronicle, a preschooler in the city turned to mom and asked 'Are Bert & Ernie lovers?' And that, coming from a preschooler was fun. And that got passed around, and everyone had their chuckle and went back to it. And 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. The other thing was, more than one person referred to Arnie & I as 'Bert and Ernie.'"

But shortly after, Saltzman told The New York Times that he was misinterpreted. Sesame Street also took to Twitter, denying that claim. In their words, "they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation." But they soon deleted that tweet and released a friendlier statement.

Frank Oz, who voiced Bert, also chimed in. In a tweet, he asked, "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."

This was obviously not a popular opinion on social media. LGBTQ fans and allies responded, explaining the need for visibility. One user even responded with, "Please think about why you haven't had to think about your own sexual orientation as something that needs to be validated.

It seems that some of these followers managed to sway his opinion. He recently posted a new tweet that offers a refreshing perspective on the puppets whose identity just can't seemed to be defined.