From: [email-masked]
Date: Sun, 02 Jan 94 16:21:54 EST

>From TV GUIDE
Dec.18, 1993 - Page 93
Reprinted without permission

LETTERS
=======

NO, ACTUALLY, THEY'RE JUST GOOD FRIENDS

After reading your article "TV That's Good for Your Kids" [Oct.30], it was
reported to me that Bert and Ernie are gay. My grandchildren will not be
watching Sesame Street anymore, and I hope you will relay that message to
executive producer Michael Loman.

     -Julianne H. Sallee
      Pocahontas, Arizona

EDITOR'S NOTE: According to the Children's Television Workshop: "Bert and
Ernie do not portray a gay couple and there are no plans for them to do so in
the future. They are puppets, not humans."

=============
>From TV GUIDE
Dec.25, 1993 - Page 6
Reprinted Wothout Permission

CHEERS 'N' JEERS
================

JEERS
To the rumormongers - and those too ready to believe them - who spread the
scuttlebutt that Bert and Ernie, those two loveable Muppets of Sesame Street
fame, are gay.  The nationwide rumors, stoked by overreacting parents,
reached such a pitch that the Children's Television Workshop, which produces
the show, had to issue a press statement assuring viewers that the Muppet
pals "do not portray a gay couple." It's a shame CTW had to. Maybe it's time
for Sesame Street to tackle the subject. Kids - and a few parents - need to
learn that a person's sexual orientation really shouldn't matter.