Bert and Ernie from Sesame Street are not gay...nor straight

The final decision of Sesame Workshop, in an attempt to end the debate that has emerged since the pair debuted on TV in 1969, is that puppets "have no sexual orientation."

Now it's official: the characters Bert and Ernie, from the "Sesame Street" show, are not gay.

But according to Sesame Workshop, the organization responsible for the popular American television program, it is also official that puppets are not straight.

Bert and Ernie are simply "great friends".

The final decision of Sesame Workshop, in an attempt to end the debate that has emerged since the pair debuted on TV in 1969, is that puppets "have no sexual orientation."

They were created to teach pre-school students that people can be good friends with people who are very different from themselves, Sesame Workshop told Twitter on Tuesday.

"Although they are identified as male characters and have many human traits and characteristics (like most Sesame Street puppets), they are still puppets and have no sexual orientation."

Sesame Workshop issued the statement in response to Mark Saltzman, a former scriptwriter for the program, who said he wrote the pair's scenes as if they were a "loving couple", as per Reuters.

Bert and Ernie have long been gay icons, being at the center of a legal dispute in Northern Ireland when a bakery refused to make a cake with the slogan "Support Gay Marriage" and an image of the two characters.