- [Narrator] When pop culture progress comes under attack
by the regressive status quo,
we call it a moral panic.
And few moral panics are more intense, outrageous,
and relevant than the controversy
over queerness in kids' media.
The attacks began in the 1950s,
when homophobic bullies took aim at comic book heroes
like Batman and Robin.
But as children's media evolved, so did the panic.
This time, TV was the target,
and under fire were best friends Bert and Ernie,
and the Teletubby known as Tinky Winky.
[dramatic music]
- Moral decay.
- A sickness of the mind.
- Upsetting moral effect.
- Oughta be a law against them.
- Two eyes, and two ears, and two noses.
- Hey, hey, hey, hey, you ding-a-ling,
you've only got one nose.
[serious music]
- Two noses.
- [Narrator] First appearing in the 1969 pilot
for 'Sesame Street,' Bert and Ernie are honestly goals.
The inseparable pair are the picture of domestic bliss,
and it wasn't long before they earned
a genuine queer following
from a community starved for representation.
- I don't think there was any thought of their relationship,
other than they were Laurel and Hardy.
As it moved along and, and, you know,
gay consciousness emerged that way,
two guys living together, it was just something that,
as writers, we found entertaining.
[Bert retching]
- Bert, I wish you wouldn't drink so much, Bert.
- Well, Ernie, I wish you wouldn't eat cookies
in the damn bed!
- Bert, you're shouting again, Bert.
- [Narrator] By 1994, the rumors had gone national,
as evidenced by a New York Times Magazine article,
which asked the burning question: 'Are Bert and Ernie Gay?'
The mostly tongue-in-cheek column
mentions a Mississippi parents group
opposed to the best pals taking part in a touring production
of 'Sesame Street Live!'
Sesame Workshop, then known as CTW, the nonprofit
that runs 'Sesame Street,'
were so bombarded with complaints,
they drafted a prepared statement
denying the puppets' sexual orientation.
In it, they assured God-fearing Americans
that Bert and Ernie 'do not portray a gay couple,'
and there are 'no plans ... to do so in the future.'
'Sesame Street' writer Mark Saltzman, who is gay,
wished they'd tried a little harder.
- Why not do something 'Sesame Street'-y" instead of this
cold, corporate, inept press release
that made everybody unhappy, both sides, you know?
This was people panicking.
'What are we gonna do?
They're calling our, our two guys gay.'
- [Narrator] As the question kept arising
through the decades, CTW kept fumbling the ball.
- You're 'Sesame Street,' for heaven's sakes.
Watch the show.
Now write the press release.
I thought the New Yorker cover was sort of the last word.
They're a gay couple. It just seemed such a dead issue.
- Right-look right in there, Bert.
- In there? - See right in there?
Yeah, look a little closer.
- [Narrator] The two were halfway
to becoming legitimate gay icons,
but Sesame Workshop stuck with the same canned response:
that Bert and Ernie 'remain puppets'
and 'do not have a sexual orientation.'
- It's ugly, and so is Bert's unibrow,
and nobody's fixed that.
There truly was phobia, in, in the sense of real phobia.
A really raw nerve was touched.
- [Narrator] In 2018, Mark revealed
that he wrote Bert and Ernie as a gay couple
during his time on the show,
inspired by the relationship he shared with
a longtime partner who has since passed away from cancer.
- My partner was Arnie Glassman,
the documentary filmmaker and film editor,
which is a very Bert kind of job,
and I'm writing for 'Sesame Street,'
so, of course, we're being called Mark and Ernie,
or Bert and Ernie.
- [TMZ Reporter] 'Sesame Street' writer Mark Saltzman
just revealed he modeled Bert and Ernie
after his own relationship, which was totally brought to you
by the letters L, G, B, T, and Q.
- Why didn't anybody connect those dots
for all these years?
- [TMZ Reporter] Well, to be fair, there weren't many clues,
except for the fact that Mark's partner's name was Arnie.
- [Mark] It was just some of our dynamics
made it into the Bert and Ernie sketches.
- [Narrator] Saltzman's revelation was one tiny piece
of a much larger interview with Queerty magazine
about his years working and living
in a New York City ravaged by the AIDS crisis.
- It was the '80s in New York,
and the epidemic was raging,
and it was harrowing.
You'd go from shooting a funny song
or something I'd be really proud of,
and, 'Oh, right, we have to do a hospital visit. You know,
this could be the last time we see him. We better go.'
- [Narrator] Mark's reminiscing was enough
to once again rekindle the flames of moral panic.
- In 2018, the idea of me using any kind of
interactions or, or jokes even between Arnie and I,
two gay men, somehow contaminated Bert and Ernie
and made them gay or something.
The media exploded about it.
- But the petition to let Bert and Ernie marry
has spawned petitions to stop them.
The New York Daily News even wrote an editorial
on the subject, entitled 'They're just Muppets.'
It sarcastically asked, 'Why stop there?
Why not march Yogi Bear and Boo Boo down the aisle, too?'
- [Narrator] As the controversy raged,
Sesame Workshop responded with their same stale statement.
This time, they were met with real pushback.
- Sometimes, even educational television people
need a little educating, and I think they got it there.
- [Narrator] They sheepishly deleted the tweet
and replaced it with one
that touts 'Sesame Street's' commitment
to inclusion and acceptance, all while doubling down
that Bert and Ernie are nothing more than best friends.
The diversity and progressive spirit of 'Sesame Street'
was groundbreaking for its day,
but they still haven't figured out a thoughtful response
to the question of Bert x Ernie.
Maybe the next time someone makes a fuss about it,
and they will, 'Sesame Street' could learn a lesson
from the Teletubbies.
[Teletubby groans]
- Yay!
- [Narrator] 'Teletubbies' is a deeply weird,
uniquely British TV show for young children,
in which Tinky Winky, Dipsy, Laa-Laa, and Po
frolic in a flowery landscape
and watch videos on each other's bellies.
In 1997, before the series even aired,
the UK press held endless debates
over Tinky Winky's sexuality, citing his rich purple color,
inverted triangle antenna that echoes a gay pride symbol,
and his smart red handbag.
When the show arrived in America a year later,
LGBTQ+ magazine the Advocate
immediately declared Tinky Winky a gay icon
and correctly predicted that 'the same fundamentalists
who boycott Disney are going to flip.'
Conservative Christian Rev. Jerry Falwell,
founder of the everything-ist-and-phobic
Moral Majority movement
published a 'Parent Alert' in his university's journal.
He declared that Tinky Winky's 'gay lifestyle
is damaging to the moral lives of children.'
- It is being perceived by the gay community out there
as something good for them.
- [Narrator] Falwell got the headlines
and attention he wanted,
but the outcry over Tinky Winky never gained much steam.
- Falwell blasts
Tinky Winky
[audience chuckles]
as a gay Teletubby,
[audience chuckles]
a headline which cannot be improved upon.
- [Narrator] The anti-LGBTQ+ pearl-clutchers
clearly overreached, and their protests
were met with well-deserved mockery.
Tinky Winky leaned into the rumors
in a way that Bert and Ernie never could,
and in the years since, the Teletubbies
have come to embrace their queer following,
not run away from it.
- It took so long, and it's so unfair
that generations and generations of kids
had to grow up feeling like who they are
and what they are is just inherently adult, and perverse,
and inappropriate because it doesn't belong in something
that the, the wider world considers family-friendly.
- [Narrator] Mainstream media has made big strides
towards LGBTQ+ representation,
but even in the seemingly enlightened 21st century,
beloved kids cartoons like 'Steven Universe' aren't safe.
[bright music]