Some 'Sesame Street' viewers sense a gay-friendly vibe

[oberliner]

Reporting from New York — Bert and Ernie are not gay. In their 31 years on "Sesame Street," they've never marched in a Pride parade or plastered a rainbow sticker on Oscar the Grouch's trash can. Sesame Workshop has always contended that they're just friends who happen to live together and sleep side by side in well-tailored pajamas.

On June 11, the mono-browed Muppet tweeted about the premiere of the recent "A-Team" remake. ( "Sesame Street" plans to air a parody of the movie in November.) "Ever notice how similar my hair is to Mr. T's?" Bert asked, name-checking the original "A-Team" star. "The only difference is mine is a little more 'mo,' a little less 'hawk.'"

Reading "mo" as slang for homosexual, gay bloggers rejoiced. To some, it seemed as if "Sesame Street" was aiming sly in-jokes directly at them, right under the noses of unsuspecting straight viewers. Ed Kennedy of the gay pop culture site AfterElton.com noted that the tweet came during a week when many cities were hosting Gay Pride celebrations. "The people at Sesame Street are way too clever for their own good," he wrote.

http://articles.latimes.com/2010/oct/24/entertainment/la-ca-sesame-street-20101024