Photo: The Real
The Realco-hostsTamera Mowry Housleyand Jeannie Mai got into a heated exchange during theseason 5 premiereof the daytime talk show earlier this week.
The women were discussing the recent news that a formerSesame Streetwriter claimed beloved charactersBert and Ernie are gay, debating whether the puppets’ sexuality mattered to the children watching.
The formerSister, Sisteractres said that as a parent, her only concern is what the show is teaching her children.
“But as a parent, I’m like, what are you teaching my child? Are you teaching my children how to love one another?” she continued. “Are you teaching my children how to be friendly and create amazing friendships? That’s what really matters. I don’t care if they’re brown, yellow, orange — whatever. What is the message?”
But things quickly turned heated when Mai cut Mowry Housely off.
“I hear what you’re saying, but I disagree because they do care. And your kids are learning,” she said before Mowry Housely chimed in.
“At 5 years old and at t3 years old, my daughter isn’t thinking … ” Mowry Housley said.
“Let me finish,” Mai insisted. “Let me finish really quick. All I’m saying is, I was that girl. I learned how to speak English … ”
Clearly frustrated, Mowry Housely interjected: “I’m speaking for my kids and my experience, so you can speak from yours.”
Mai explained that she disagreed withSesame Streetreleasing a statement contradicting the idea of Bert and Ernie being a couple.
“I’m just saying, Tam. For me, I had to learn from them, too. I learned watching Sesame Street how to speak English, and Bert and Ernie were my best friends. I believed in them and I learned from them, how to have a healthy and happy relationship,” she said. “I learned how that relationship works. So when Sesame Street says they’re not gay, it says to me that being gay is not OK. That’s the problem. That’s the problem with this situation.”
Mai said she felt it was important that children see different types of families represented on television.
“There are kids out there that have two moms and have two dads and they need to see that love takes shape in all forms,” she said. “When Bert and Ernie are together, they have potential to break down barriers.”
“We’re cool,” she wrote.
During a new interview with LGBTQ lifestyle website Queerty, formerSesame Streetwriter Mark Saltzman hinted that Bert and Ernie are more than just friends.
“I always felt that without a huge agenda, when I was writing Bert and Ernie, they were,” he said.
However, Sesame Workshop tweeted a statementdenying Saltzman’s assertionhours later.
“As we have always said, 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,” the tweet reads. “Even though they are identified as male characters and posess many human traits and characteristics (as mostSesame StreetMuppets do), they remain puppets, and do not have a sexual orientation.”
source: people.com
