Petition: Let Bert & Ernie Get Married

A petition drive launched on Change.org asks the producers of Sesame Street to allow long-rumored boyfriends Bert and Ernie to marry.

Chicago resident Lair Scott started an online petition at Change.org to pressure the Sesame Street Workshop to "Let Bert & Ernie get married on Sesame Street." The petition reads, "We are not asking Sesame Street to do anything crude or disrespectful…. It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different." As of this writing, the petition had collected more than 1,600 signatures. But are Bert and Ernie even gay, never mind ready for the ultimate commitment? Scott clearly thinks so. In an interview with ABC News.com, Scott said, "A lot of people have wondered about Bert and Ernie.... Living in the same bedroom and the same home would make anyone question their sexuality." His aim, he added, is to get 20,000 petitioners to encourage the Sesame Workshop to either marry Bert and Ernie or introduce a gay or lesbian character.

Sesame Street has denied that Bert and Ernie are gay ever since the rumors started over 20 years ago. The usual response: "They are puppets. They don't exist below the waist."