Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson jokes he’s raising his son ‘gay until he decides he’s straight’
(The Ellen DeGeneres Show)
Jesse Tyler Ferguson has joked he’s raising his son “gay” until he “decides he is straight”.
Ferguson and his husband Justin Mikita welcomed their first child, Beckett Mercer, to their family in July 2020. The Modern Family actor opened up about raising his now eight-month-old son on The Ellen DeGeneres Show on Tuesday (9 March).
He told DeGeneres that they were “still figuring out” Beckett’s personality, but he’s a “really sweet boy”.
“It’s a new person in your life, and just like anyone new that comes into your life, you’ve gotta figure out if you like them,” Ferguson said. “It takes a little bit of time.”
Ferguson also talked about some of the books and songs he had already introduced to Beckett. He revealed Britney Spears was Beckett’s “first exposure to music”, as Mikita “demanded” they listen to her songs on the way back from the hospital where the baby was born.
He explained that he writes a lot of songs for Beckett and sings show tunes “because that’s what I like”. Ferguson joked: “We’re raising him gay until he decides he’s straight.”
Jesse Tyler Ferguson reveals Taylor Swift’s sweet baby gift
Jesse Tyler Ferguson added he expects Beckett might be “such a straight kid” but said he will love him regardless of his sexual orientation. He said: “I’ll let him do whatever he wants, but I just have a feeling you’re going to want to play football.
“I have to learn how to do all of those things.”
He also said he is leaning into parenthood in his own way, which includes adding some classic children’s books as well as more inclusive literature. Ferguson shared the family has “about eight copies” of The Very Hungry Caterpillar.
“But one of the new books that I found that I really love is a book called The Hips of the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish,” he said.
He also told DeGeneres that pop-country music star and LGBT+ ally Taylor Swift had sent them a “big care package” after Beckett was born filled with the “nicest baby clothes I’ve ever seen”. Ferguson explained: “They’re cashmere jumpsuits, and Beckett is a little too big for them.
“But we’re determined to get a few more wears out of them because they’re so nice so we’re just stuffing his little sausage legs into them, and he’s bursting out of them.
“But I was like, ‘But this is what Taylor Swift got you so you’re just going to have to learn how to enjoy this’.”
