Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie are just friends

Sesame Street characters Bert and Ernie will not get married, despite an online petition from gay activists.

Almost 7,000 people signed the petition asking that the two male characters get married to teach children that it’s OK to be gay. The petition says, “We are not asking that Sesame Street do anything crude or disrespectful. It can be done in a tasteful way. Let us teach tolerance of those that are different.”

However, the makers of Sesame Street have turned down the request, saying that although Bert and Ernie have lived together for 40 years and sleep in the same bedroom, they’re not gay. “They remain puppets and do not have a sexual orientation,” they said. “They were created to teach children that people can be good friends with those who are very different from them.”

More than 120 million people in more than 140 countries watch Sesame Street, which is a children’s show that started in 1969.

Watch this funny scene starring Bert and Ernie: