Tony Perkins, the president of the
Christian conservative group Family Research Council (FRC), says a
Bert and Ernie wedding on Sesame
Street would indoctrinate children into being gay.
The campaign to marry the puppets began
with a Change.org
petition, which attracted thousands of signatures in just a few
days.
The petition's author, Lair Scott,
argued the wedding would help stem the rise of anti-gay bullying.
“In this horrific age of LGBT kids
taking their own lives, they need to know that they ARE BEAUTIFUL
and their lives are worth living,” he wrote.
Perkins, however, suggested the
marriage would rob children of their innocence.
“Not only do gays want to force their
lifestyle on you and me, but they want to enlist felt-faced
non-humans in the fight!” Perkins
wrote. “And this is on top of the demands for a transgender
character to join Sesame Street. For years, the same-sex
community has insisted that all they want is the 'right' to marry
their partners. If that's true, then why do they need to
indoctrinate kids? Why recruit children and corporate America and
public education? Obviously, the goal here isn't to be left alone to
do what they want. The goal is to force the whole world –
including small children – to celebrate their sexual behavior.
Families are already working overtime to protect their children's
innocence. The last thing they need to worry about is the ABCs of
indoctrination.”
Sesame Street producers on
Thursday nixed the idea, saying
Bert and Ernie are not gay.