Because some states have now legalized homosexual marriage, homosexual marriage advocates circulated a petition and sent it to Sesame Street urging puppets Bert and Ernie to publicly follow suit.  But this is not to be.

Sesame Street released a statement Friday affirming to the homosexual pressure groups that Bert and Ernie are just puppets folks.   

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... they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.  

But this was all clearly explained 18 years ago.

Bert and Ernie, who've been on Sesame Street for 25 years, do not portray a gay couple, and there are no plans for them to do so in the future. They are puppets, not humans. Like all the Muppets created for Sesame Street, they were designed to help educate preschoolers. Bert and Ernie are characters who help demonstrate to children that despite their differences, they can be good friends.  

- Sesame Workshop's consumer response prepared statement, 1993.

 To make it perfectly clearer

'They are not gay, they are not straight, they are puppets,' says Sesame Workshop President and CEO Gary Knell. 'They don't exist below the waist.'  

OMG! Puppets? Puppets? There goes my childhood!"They don't exist below the waist."  I never knew! They must be physically challenged! Where are the physically handicapped advocates?