Is it Time for Bert and Ernie to Tie the Knot in Gay Marriage Ceremony?

Is nothing innocent, or sacred -- even children's show characters? Now that New York State has legalized same sex marriage, is it time for Sesame Street's Bert and Ernie to fess up that they're (allegedly) gay and just tie the knot already? That's the question posed by the "social change" organization Change.org.

Change.org's website even posted a petition encouraging the show's creators to hold a same-sex marriage for the two puppets in a "tasteful way."

But this only adds to the longtime questions of whether the bosom buddies are in fact gay.

According to My Fox New York:

For decades the pair have shared a close friendship, a bedroom in a small apartment with separate beds.  (The duo even wear similar striped shirts.)

But the friends are gender neutral, the show's creators have said and not homosexual.

Throughout their history together, the TV characters have sent the message that no matter how different they might look from each other (Bert was designed with a banana in mind and Ernie with an orange as an inspiration-- hence the shape of their bodies) they are more alike than different and differences should be respected.

Not everyone, though, (even liberals) is embracing the petition. The Daily Beast's Andrew Sullivan -- who is gay -- writes on his popular blog that the two should be left alone.

Alyssa Rosenberg of the liberal site Think Progress reminds everyone that Bert and Ernie aren't even gay:

If Bert and Ernie were gay, I would be all for them bopping down to City Hall and getting hitched. But the characters aren’t gay. People may want them to be gay, but the Sesame Workshop has repeatedly denied that either character is homosexual and that they are a couple, and I’m pretty firmly in favor of creators’ rights to determine basic facts about their characters.

And remember, they're not humans, they're puppets, says Jezebel's Whitney Jefferson (via The Atlantic).

"My gripe is that I've not just been fighting for gays to have the right to marry for two decades; I've also been fighting for them to have the right not to marry, if they so choose," he says. "And that applies to Bert and Ernie."

What do you think? Are Bert and Ernie gay? Or are same sex marriage activists just using popular children's show characters to help prop up their agenda?