Sesame Street issued the statement after someone set up an online petition calling for Bert and Ernie to be married now that New York has legalised gay marriage.
Transcript –
Panel 1:
Sam: (A person wearing a yellow-brown, collared shirt and a green-grey vest, who is sitting at a table, facing the viewer, but looking down at an open laptop. Eyebrows are pushed together slightly, and one is raised marginally, mouth is open, with downturned edges.) Oh no!
Sesame St. issued a statement this week saying that Bert & Ernie couldn’t possibly get married because they’re puppets, and puppets don’t have a sexuality.
Panel 2:
Sam: (A person who is facing the viewer, but looking to the side, with raised eyebrows and an open mouth, which has slightly downturned edges.) They single-handedly outed ALL puppets as asexual! Asexuality is a beautiful and wonderful thing, but it is up to the individual to identify as such.
Joe: Sam…
Panel 3:
Sam: (A person who is facing the viewer, but looking to the side. Eyebrows are raised and pushed together slightly, mouth is open. One arm is raised slightly at the shoulder and bent up at the elbow, index finger pointing straight up, the rest of the hand closed.) And I am quite certain that Miss Piggy had a sexuality. An interspecies sexuality, even.
Joe: SAM!
Panel 4:
Sam: (A person who is facing the viewer, but looking at Joe, with lowered eyebrows and an open mouth, which has very slightly downturned edges.) What? This just doesn’t seem right to me. Bert and Ernie should be able to speak for themselves.
Joe: (A person wearing a maroon undershirt, a blue cardigan, and a blue neckerchief, who is facing the viewer, with eyes squeezed shut. Eyebrows are lowered and mouth is closed and small, with slightly downturned edges. One arm is bent up at the elbow, hand flat against Joe’s face. There is a word written next to Joe’s head, which reads:) *sigh*
I totally thought of Roostertails when I read that statement! I like that you wrote a response.
Also, Gonzo and Camilla! That Weirdo/Whatever is a total alektorophile. 🙂
So, uh. I just read the entirety of the archives here. I almost wish my comic was more of a blog/diary, now; this is really interesting, and I just got a little bit creeped out because I feel like I know you way too well for someone I have never met, live on the other side of the world from, and only found out about today!
Oh no, I’m terrible at replying sometimes. I’m so glad you like the comic!! And I am glad I made you feel creeped out, that’s my ultimate goal!
So many reasons why I love this comic.
I KNEW there was a reason Gonzo and Camilla never had a ceremony!
It’s not often that I literally laugh out loud at my computer, but I definitely did just now. This is fantastic!
But Bert and Ernie are brothers! And like 7 years old!
They’re brothers?!?! and 7 years old?!?! Woah. That changes things dramatically. Why are they living in an apartment alone at 7??? Where are their parents/care givers?!?!?
The same place all the other muppet’s parents’ are, off screen. You hear about them rarely, same with Big Bird, Snuffy, Elmo, Grover and such, but Grover’s the only one who’s mom you meet. They’re all supposed to be ages 5 through 8, I think.
cuuuuuuute! now I wanna meet all their parents!
Also – is sesame st just said that, it’d make much more sense!
I know, right? But I guess since it’s a Kid’s Show, they just assume you know, even when half of the muppets are bigger than the adults. Like Big Bird, who’s supposedly 5.
You remembered asexual people!!! Aw, thank you!
Yup, muppets (apart from miss piggy) generally seem pretty asexual to me.
I always thought it was weird that their reasoning was that puppets don’t have sexualities (when the puppets of Avenue Q most definitely do, for one thing), not that Bert and Ernie are commonly considered (as far as I know…) to be kids and that kids cannot get married. 😛 The kids argument would have made so much more sense. Also not everyone is aware of their sexual and/or romantic orientation when they are kids, so that would have gone right along with their desire to repress the “Bert and Ernie are gay!” rumors.
Ha, it’s true! But then they’d have to explain why their respective parents abandoned them and made them live in an apartment in the city alone 🙁