Actor Jesse Tyler Ferguson told Ellen DeGeneres on Monday that he and his husband, actor Justin Mikita, are raising their 8-month-old son Beckett to be “gay until he decides to be straight,” and showed video of himself singing to the baby about drag queens.
Explaining to DeGeneres the complexity of discovering the personality of a new child, Ferguson said, “It’s a new person in your life, and just like anyone else new that comes into your life, it’s like, you’ve gotta figure out if you like them. It takes a little bit of time.”
“[Fortunately], I really do like him. He’s a really sweet boy. And it’s been a lot of fun. I’ve been wanting to become a dad for a long time,” adding that he plays “a lot of show tunes” for Beckett.
“We’re raising him gay until he decides he’s straight,” the “Modern Family” actor said, prompting laughter from DeGeneres and the audience. “On the way back from the hospital, we played Britney Spears because that was what Justin demanded he listen to. That was his first exposure to music.”
“It’s a lot of singing. I’m writing a lot of songs for him. You know, everything has a song,” Ferguson explained, offering the example of a show tune based on a dirty diaper.
“So, you’re raising him gay until he says he’s straight,” DeGeneres quipped. “But you’ll love him just the same if he is straight, right?”
“Absolutely,” Ferguson replied. “He’s absolutely going to be, I can just tell, [he’ll] be like such a straight kid. Who knows?”
WATCH:
Ferguson went on to recount how among the children’s books he is reading to Beckett, there is one titled “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish.” He then played video of himself singing a song to Beckett about it. Written by Lil Miss Hot Mess, one of the drag queens behind “Drag Queen Story Hour” with children, “The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish” is written for children between the ages of 4-8, according to Amazon.
Its description reads:
Playing off “The Wheels on the Bus,” this nursery rhyme book from a founder of Drag Queen Story Hour is a fun, freewheeling celebration of being your most fabulous self.
The Hips on the Drag Queen Go Swish, Swish, Swish encourages readers to boldly be exactly who they are. Written by a founding member of the nationally recognized Drag Queen Story Hour (DQSH), this playful picture book offers a quirky twist on a classic nursery rhyme by illustrating all of the ways to “work it”. The story plays off “The Wheels on the Bus” as it follows a drag queen who performs her routine in front of an awestruck audience. A fun frenzy of fierceness, this book will appeal to readers of all ages.