Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

A gay icon on Sesame Street? Bert comes out of the closet after 31 years

Guy Adams
Tuesday 26 October 2010 00:00 BST
Comments
(Rex)

Your support helps us to tell the story

From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.

At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.

The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.

Your support makes all the difference.

The clues were always there. Bert and Ernie have been living together for 31 years. They like to wear flamboyant "his & his" pyjamas. And (here's the clincher) they tuck themselves up together each night in the same bed.

It has, however, taken a careless status update on Twitter to convince America's gay community of what they suspected all along: that two of Sesame Street's best-known characters are preparing to venture out of the closet.

Bert recently used the social networking site to discuss an A-Team parody which will feature on the children's TV show next month. "Ever notice how similar my hair is to Mr. T's?" he asked. "The only difference is that mine is a little more 'mo', and a little less 'hawk'."

The comment understandably passed below the radar of many readers. But it sparked huge intrigue in certain gay circles, where "mo" has for years been a discreet slang term meaning "homosexual".

Writing on the influential gay blog AfterElton.com, Ed Kennedy swiftly noted that the tweet came during a week when many US cities were hosting their annual Gay Pride celebrations. "The people at Sesame Street are way too clever for their own good," he claimed.

At the weekend, the Los Angeles Times weighed in on the debate, offering a lengthy analysis of whether, in the paper's own words, America's most influential children's TV show is being "brought to you by the letters G-A-Y".

By way of evidence, the paper cited recent guest appearances by lesbian comedian Wanda Sykes, the gay actor Neil Patrick Harris, who played the "shoe fairy", and Will.i.am, the front-man of the Black Eyed Peas, who sang What I Am, a gay anthem.

The programme recently satirised True Blood, a TV show which has a huge gay following. Katy Perry, whose most famous song is I Kissed a Girl, was also recently given a guest spot, though it was not broadcast due to concerns about her revealing outfit. All of this convinced a spokesman for the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation to applaud Sesame Street for opening another chapter in its "long history of teaching children about diversity and acceptance".

With an eye, perhaps, on audiences in less cosmopolitan corners of America, a spokesman for the show meanwhile declined to comment on Bert's sexuality, saying ambiguously: "our programming has always appealed to adults as much as children".

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in