UPDATED: Sesame Street Writer Says Bert & Ernie Are Gay, Sesame Spokesperson Denies It

UPDATE: A spokesperson for Sesame Workshop gave the following statement to TMZ…

“As we have always said, Bert and Ernie are best friends. They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves.”

Frank Oz also commented…

“It seems Mr. Mark Saltzman was asked if Bert & Ernie are gay. It’s fine that he feels they are. They’re not, of course. But why that question? 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.”

ORIGINAL: According to TMZ, Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman, who joined the show in 1984, stated that he wrote Bert and Ernie as a gay couple. He added that the couple is a reflection of his own same-sex relationship (with film editor Arnold Glassman, Mark was Ernie and Arnold was Bert) and not about pushing an agenda. Bert and Ernie have shared a basement apartment at 123 Sesame Street for the last 49 years.