Should Ernie and Bert Get Married?

Casey’s joke about two local restaurants notwithstanding this is an important issue. So important that it already has it’s own Facebook poll and a petition demanding that Sesame Street “allow” them to marry. I guess at the end of a shotgun should they refuse.

Sesame Street debuted in 1969 and while I don’t remember a time when it didn’t exist, I can’t say I really remember watching it as a kid nor did my kids watch it. Dylan didn’t like Cookie Monster (he doesn’t have a nose and that was a deal-breaker for the boy, so he watched Barney instead.) I do know that it does a tremendous job of showing diversity in a quiet and unobtrusive setting and it helps kids understand that no matter what, people are people regardless of color, creed, or orientation. And that’s a good thing. Great, actually.

I am an ardent and vocal supporter of same sex marriage. I don’t believe, not for a second, that it will devalue “traditional” marriage. That’s just trumped up nonsense from people who are afraid of what they don’t understand. Didn’t think love was that difficult a concept to embrace but hey, who am I to judge?

The more I think about same sex marriage coming to Sesame Street, the more I like the idea and one I’d like to see them tackle. I do think, however, they should use the “real” characters. A same-sex family moving to Sesame Street would show a tremendous amount of courage on the part of the producers and would create a reason for questions about the new family to be raised and then addressed in a safe and non-threatening way.

To me, the whole Ernie and Bert get married trend, is the easy way; before I get put on blast, I don’t mean it will be easy, maybe what I’m trying to say is lazy. By lazy I mean, if they bow to pressure to have Ernie and Bert get married, what do they gain? Where is the ability to ask questions and have them answered? Where is the ability to show that same sex families are no different from other families?

With Ernie and Bert, you get a wedding. That’s it. These are existing characters. That assumes everyone on Sesame Street knows them and already understands their relationship. There is no opportunity to learn. No teachable moment. No chance for Sesame Street to do what it does best; present something in a subtle, non-judgmental way with humor and grace.

I’ve always considered most of the muppets to be children and that’s true of Ernie and Bert. However, after talking to Emma she set me straight when she told me, “They are not children they are make-believe and as make-believe characters they should be able to do what the people that create them do. That means they can drive cars, and cook, and get gay-married if that’s what the people who create them do.” See, that right there is the beauty of make-believe. It can, but is not required to, mimic reality. Anvils and gravity-defying stunts, kitchen sponges that live in pineapples under the sea, muppets who live in garbage cans, all of these are possible because they don’t live in the real world. They live in imaginations of their viewers and creators. Another reason to have “real” characters bring this issue to Sesame Street.

I also asked Dylan what he thought. He replied, “Mom, they’re muppets. I don’t care what they do, they’re not real.”

What do you think?

Barbara Mulvey-Welsh is a mother, writer and blogger raising kids and a husband in Plymouth. Check out her blog "Did I Say that Outloud" at http://barbaramulveywelsh.blogspot.com/. Use caution when reading around the family, there is some strong language.