In a striking nod to the role that pop culture has played in changing public opinion about gay couples, the New Yorker’s next cover (backstory here) will feature those long-time confirmed bachelors, Sesame Street’s Bert and Ernie, watching the Supreme Court rule in favor of marriage equality:
Part of the reason the image is so striking, of course, is that the Supreme Court remains closed to television cameras, decisions being relayed from observers inside to sites like SCOTUSblog. The workings of the Court remain secret, and endlessly speculated-about. But the world, especially as it pertains to the celebrations of the unions of gay couples, moved on in public, thanks significantly to television. That’s something GLAAD made particularly clear in this infographic, tracing the number of LGBTQ characters on television against public support for marriage equality:
