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"Sesame Street has denied that characters Bert and Ernie are gay. Fans of the long-running PBS children&amp;#039;s show recently began an online campaign to get the puppets to tie the knot, following the legalisation of gay marriage in New York.  The petition read: &amp;quot;We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful by allowing Bert and Ernie to marry. It can be done in a tasteful way. &amp;quot;Let us teach tolerance of those that are different. Let Sesame Street and PBS Kids be a big part in saving many worthy lives.&amp;quot; However, Sesame Workshop - the non-profit organisation behind Sesame Street - has now issued a statement claiming that Bert and Ernie do not have any &amp;quot;sexual orientation&amp;quot; and are simply &amp;quot;best friends&amp;quot;. &amp;quot;Bert and Ernie are best friends,&amp;quot; the statement read. &amp;quot;They were created to teach preschoolers that people can be good friends with those who are very different from themselves. &amp;quot;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.&amp;quot; Bert and Ernie&amp;#039;s relationship has been the subject of much speculation over the course of the programme&amp;#039;s 42-year history.  Last year, Bert posted on the show&amp;#039;s official Twitter feed: &amp;quot;Ever notice how similar my hair is to Mr T&amp;#039;s? The only difference is mine is a little more &amp;#039;mo&amp;#039;, a little less &amp;#039;hawk&amp;#039;.&amp;quot; Some fans took this as a covert reference to Bert being gay, since &amp;quot;mo&amp;quot; is a slang term for homosexual. Lady GaGa, Neil Patrick Harris and Ellen Degeneres were among the celebrities who celebrated the legalisation of gay marriage in New York earlier this year. Watch a clip of Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street below:      "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/ustv/news/a334683/sesame-street-bert-and-ernie-are-not-gay/>