A Gay Couple Arrives on "Sesame Street" (No, Not Bert and Ernie)

 "Sesame Street’ Drops Special ‘Family Day’ Episode Featuring Two Gay Dads." Wait -- why did they drop it?  Kowtowing to the pressure from homophobic groups who scream "The homosexual agenda!  You can't show two gay men on tv with kids watching!" 

Wait -- "drops" is apparently the new word for "broadcasts."  The show already aired on June 17th.  It's available on youtube.

Elmo introduces Family Day on the Street with a banner and a gaggle of human and muppet characters that I don't recognize.  The adult Alan(Alan Muraoka) says that his cousin is coming by  bus all the way from California.  Another adult, Nina (Suki Lopez), that her brother and his family are driving in.  Big Bird is sad because his grandma won't be there -- she's old and doesn't fly, even by airplane.

Whoops -- the moment he leaves, Grandma comes in -- Big Bird in drag, with a Southern accent!  She wants her visit to be a surprise.

Next, Nina's brother Dave arrives with his family -- his husband Frank and their daughter Mia. They haven't shown up before, so introductions all around.  Then the party is about to start, so they go help set up.  On the way, they are introduced to a Muppet named Maggie, who says she has heard a lot about them.

The plot shifts to trying to keep Big Bird from knowing that his Grandma is there before the party begins.

Inside, Dave and Frank unpack the vegetable lasagna they brought, while everyone exclaims about how DELICIOUS!!!! it smells (I guess over-enthusiasm is characteristic of Sesame Street).  Mia explains that they make it together, as a family. 

 

Grandma brought birdseed cupcakes. Then Big Bird arrives, and they have to hide her.  Strange -- Big Bird was not there when Dave and Frank arrived, but he doesn't ask for an introduction.  Plot hole!

Switch to the Arbor, where Dave, Frank, Mia, and Big Bird are arranging flowers for the party.  Big Bird is still depressed over his Grandma not being there.  

Switch to a lot of new characters: Nuclear families: humans Mary and Victor, muppets Emmett and Mae.  A mixed fairy-monster family.  Alan's cousin Andy. A child muppet exclaims "Wow, the families look so different."  Frank says: "There are all kinds of families."  Finally Grandma appears.  I'm not sure that the surprise was worth all the stress it caused Big Bird, but you have to have some sort of conflict, or it be lousy story.

We close to photos of various human and muppet families. Looks like some single parents, a lesbian couple, some interracial couples, and Alan and his cousin.

8:43 minutes.  I don't know if this was a stand-alone special or a segment from the show, but I missed Oscar the Grouch, Cookie Monster, Ernie and Bert (they'd make a good family photo), and the theme song: "Sunny day, sweeping the clouds away.  On my way to where the air is sweet..."  And the various uses of the Letter L.  

But there was definitely a gay couple on Sesame Street.  And on Duck Tales.  And Arthur.  Can the Marvel Universe be far behind?  I'm looking at you, Bucky Barnes.

See also: What's Gay About Sesame Street?

What's Gay about Sesame Street?

Come and play, everything's a-ok
Friendly neighbors there, that's where we meet.

Sesame Street premiered in 1969, with the goal of giving inner-city kids a "head start" in reading and math skills.  We didn't get it in Rock Island until our PBS station arrived in 1972, when I was too old to have muppets teaching me numbers and letters.  But my baby sister watched, so I saw some episodes.

Was Sesame Street a "good place"?

1. Beefcake: None.  Some of the human characters were cute, such as Alex (Alexis Cruz, left, who starred in Rooftops with Jason Gedrick).  And there was a never-ending supply of hunky guest stars, from Tony Danza to Zac Efron, but I don't recall a single bare chest.

2. Lack of Heterosexual Romance:  No.  There was no hetero-romantic interaction among the muppets, but among the humans: Bob dated Linda, Maria dated David, and finally married Luis.









3. Homoromance: No.  Neither muppets nor humans expressed any particularly strong same-sex friendships.  Indeed, pairings seemed mostly random.

The exception was Bert and Ernie, who were shown living together.  Some people have pointed to them as a homoromantic couple.  The Children's Television Workshop has issued a homophobic statement strongly condemning any suggestion that any character on Sesame Street is gay -- apparently gay children are unwelcome on The Street -- but that in itself should compel us to look for a subtext.

I still don't see one. Their friendship is neither intense nor passionate enough to qualify as homoromance. They behave like brothers.  Bert, the older, has concerns that little kids would find boring -- a paper clip collection, a devotion to the letter "W" -- and finds Ernie childish and naive.  Meanwhile Ernie keeps trying to  get Bert to play with him or read to him, exactly as a younger brother might.

They live together, but they are not homodomestic partners, like Yogi Bear and Boo Boo.  They do not have adult responsibilities, like paying the rent and buying groceries.  They are children, not adults; their parents must be hovering about nearby, supervising their play.

4. Validation of Difference: Yes. The muppets are unique in temperament, and often "queer" in interests, tastes, and abilities: Oscar the Grouch's love of trash, the Cookie Monster's obsession with cookies, the Count's compulsion with counting.


But validation of difference (other than gay difference) is not enough for Sesame Street to qualify as a "good place."

See also: Burr Tillstrom, the gay puppeteer behind Kukla, Fran, and Ollie.