Many of us grew up absorbing the values and lessons relayed by the American-produced children’s show Sesame Street, where acceptance of individual differences and getting along were the key messages. Diversity was a large part of that as well and, over all, the show did a pretty fine job of it.
For those of us who grew up to be gay, lesbian, bi and trans, however, we never saw ourselves reflected in the Utopian world of the neighbourhood and, as many of us did growing up, we adapted or "read in" what we saw and heard around us to see that reflection even if it wasn’t really there.
There is now a fellow by the name of Lair Scott who has started an on-line petition to have the producers of Sesame Street hold a same-sex marriage for long time best friends and roommates, Bert and Ernie, claiming the two characters are not, in fact, best friends but gay partners. To be honest, I never saw them that way.
Predictably, there has been a backlash to the suggestion of Bert and Ernie "turning gay." A central argument here is that Scott is yet another ‘radical gay activist’ who wants to co-opt an innocent children’s show to promote The Gay Agenda. While I am not sure about imposing, for right or wrong, adult real-world issues on foam-based characters in a kiddie show, there is the argument that Sesame Street does, in fact, teach about a variety of issues including fairness and respect towards others. Sesame Street is multi-racial and multi-specied, and has different overlapping layers of reality in which everyone gets along and looks out for each other. If Sesame Street can create a universe in which humans co-exist and communicate daily with talking frogs, slutty pigs, large yellow birds, various hairy monsters, singing bugs, Martians, Jewish bears, cuddly vampires, and fairies and in which various family configurations are featured, then why can’t a couple of characters be gay or lesbian?
As soon as one suggests that, what immediately springs to mind - and it sprang to my own as I wrote that - is the question of what differentiates ‘gay’ or ‘lesbian’ from ‘non-gay’ and ‘non-lesbian’ and the answer, of course, is sex...or more specifically, the sort of sex we have and who we have it with. And sex scares people, especially the possibility of having to discuss it around children. I completely understand that and can quite see how those who are not gay or lesbian, and who only see "gay issues" in terms of sexuality and sexual behaviour, would react to something like this being introduced to innocent children.
We see this in the whole debate of introducing sexual orientation issues in our schools, too. People immediately assume young children will learn/be taught about what we do, or what they assume we do, sexually. Certainly in the older grades this is appropriate, alongside other aspects of sex ed, but that is not what we are talking about here. What individuals like Scott are proposing is that the social and cultural reality of GLBTQ be presented. It doesn’t have to be about "sex" any more than the relationship between Kermit and Miss Piggy is, or the relationship between Forgetful Jones and Clementine or, for that matter, the HIV status of Kami, who is a character in the South African show. It is possible to present GLBTQ characters as characters who are different without delving into their sexuality.
One might simply say that these are all just puppets made of felt, foam and fake fur and that anyone attempting to "sexualize" them clearly has some issues about separating fantasy from reality. What is lost in that argument, however, is that these puppets reflect reality and are used to teach valuable lessons about acceptance, tolerance, diversity, and co-existence. I suspect the real issue is, if the neighbourhood were to have a GLBTQ character or two, even if its sexuality was not front and centre, it would pose a challenge to parents to perhaps try and explain to inquisitive toddlers why the character feels hurt, or left out, or not liked; what is it that makes them different? Children can accept differences quite easily if left to their own devices and if they understand the differences are not something to tease about; that those who are ‘different’ from them really are not all that different after all. It’s called empathy. It is adults who get queasy about having to explain that some boys and some girls "like" other boys and other girls in a special way. What way, Mommy? Argh!
To me, it can be easily explained to the age level that watches Sesame Street, and is enthralled with it, that some boys and some girls fall in love with a girl or a boy and other boys and girls fall in love with another boy or another girl. Children aren’t uncomfortable about these things; adults are.
Sesame Workshop president and CEO, Gary Knell, in response to the call by Lair Scott to "out" Bert and Ernie, wrote "they are not gay, they are not straight, they are puppets...they do not exist below the waist." Just who is sexualizing here? Scott was talking about the social identity, the character, the persona if you will, of Bert and Ernie and Knell goes right for the gonads - or lack of them.
In many ways, Sesame Street has become that highly touted entity known as An American Institution. It has helped mould the minds and perceptions of generations of children, helping to guide them to a deeper understanding, and appreciation, of the world around them in all its diversity. And that is a good thing.
The interesting thing about children is their innocence and along with that is a particular ability to simply accept. If Bert and Ernie, or another new character, was presented as gay (without the sexual overtones) it wouldn’t be particularly noted by the child. I remember watching Bugs Bunny as he devoted himself to making Elmer Fudd’s life a living hell and thought it was funny and clever. As an adult, I have seen some of those episodes where Bugs Bunny cross-dresses, flirts with Elmer, even lays a big ol’ smacker of a kiss on him and bats his eyes at the flustered, and intrigued, Elmer before skipping away across the meadow on tip-toes.
Of course, Elmer soon figures out the flirtatious creature that made his eyes turn into swelling little valentine hearts is nothing more than his nemesis; that "wascally wabbit", Bugs. Talk about your adult themes. There is much in the old Looney Tunes universe that is actually quite adult, but I never saw it as a child; it went right over my head yet, at the same time, I was exposed to another way of being, another way one could express oneself.
Looking back, I can see viewing these episodes was just a harmless way to spend a Saturday morning (not that I was big on cartoons to begin with) and I didn’t question why Bugs seemed to delight in dressing up as a girl and flitting about; he just did and it was funny. Just as Wily Coyote having a bomb-making kit from ACME Bomb Inc. blow him up instead of Road Runner, or having an anvil sail up into the air and come careening back, it’s ominous shadow growing larger and larger as Wily gazed mournfully at the camera before being flattened into the dry earth of the canyon, yet again. These images didn’t corrupt me or twist me into a cross-dressing, bomb-making little terrorist, but they did resonate with me, even if I didn’t totally comprehend why until years later.
Just as innercity black, Hispanic and other minority kids needed to see themselves reflected in the shows they watched instead of only seeing white middle class able-bodied kids, so too do GLBTQ kids, or those kids who will grow up to be GLBTQ, need to see themselves; to have those nascent feelings and awareness affirmed, to know they are in fact okay. Sesame Street is about this diversity and is well-equipped to handle it appropriately, if only they remember their roots and take the risk to do so.