Do Kids Really Care About Bert & Ernie Being Gay?

Last week, former Sesame Street writer Mark Saltzman revealed that when he was creating the iconic characters of Bert and Ernie, he wrote them as if they were a gay couple (based off of his own relationship with his longtime partner Arnold Glassman). 

Upon this revelation, Sesame Workshop (Sesame Street's nonprofit organization) released a now-deleted statement on Twitter denying Bert and Ernie's sexuality, saying:

"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. Even though they are identified as male characters and possess many human traits and characteristics (as most Sesame Street Muppets do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation."

Despite all of this back-and-forth, one voice that isn't really being heard in this debate about Bert and Ernie are Sesame Street's actual target audience: kids. 

In a newly released video from the Fine Brothers' "Kids React" series, kids themselves react to the possibility of the beloved puppets being queer. 

"I think it’s really important that we open to different things," one girl named Chloe said. "I think it’s really cool that people would have that point of view on this."

"Kids should know these things and not grow up to be like, ‘that’s weird’ and ‘ew.’" said another kid named Max. "No, they should be ok with that and I think that’s great."

Watch the full video below.