Jesse Tyler Ferguson has had to come out more often than a party planner during Pride Month.

The Modern Family star, beloved by many for his hilariously deadpan portrayal of uptight lawyer Mitchell Pritchett, recently opened up on his podcast Dinner's On Me about the layered, sometimes loopy path of being authentically gay -- on screen, at home, and in the hearts of viewers who finally saw themselves reflected in primetime.

RELATED: Eric Stonestreet on 'Modern Family' Spin-Off with Jesse Tyler Ferguson

In a particularly poignant moment, Ferguson recalled a conversation with his dad:

"My dad even asked me, while I was doing Modern Family, he's like, 'I just don't always understand why you have played so many gay parts.'"

Cue a deep sigh and a slightly pained gay chuckle.

Rather than roll his eyes into a different time zone, Ferguson took the high road -- one paved with compassion and Emmy-caliber patience.

"It opened up a whole conversation between the two of us and started a whole other level of our relationship, because I had to sort of explain to him why it was important for me to play this role... I felt like it was gonna do wonderful things for the marriage equality movement, which it did."

And he's not wrong. Modern Family debuted in 2009, six years before the Supreme Court made same-sex marriage the law of the land. At the time, seeing two gay dads raising a child on a hit ABC comedy felt revolutionary -- like seeing Cher in flat shoes. It wasn't just entertainment. It was progress.

But coming out wasn't a one-and-done event in the Ferguson household.

"I'd known since childhood that I was gay," he told Oprah in 2013, "but I'd had to tell my parents three times for them to fully grasp it. I was 17, 19, and 21 when I spoke to them about the subject."

The third time, when his dad asked if he had a girlfriend, Jesse finally snapped:

"'Dad! I'm gay. Do we really have to go back to this every time?'"

We've all been there -- trapped in the Groundhog Day of Queer Clarification, armed only with patience and a decent sense of humor.

Ferguson reflected on how his father had to "reconfigure his thinking" about who his son was and could be:

"He had this whole idea of what his son was gonna be, and he had to reconfigure his thinking."

To anyone who's had to spoon-feed queer realities to a relative still mourning the loss of their imagined heterosexual legacy, Ferguson's journey feels both hilariously familiar and deeply validating.

In his podcast chat with fellow out actor Luke Macfarlane (Brothers and Sisters), the conversation shifted toward the blurred line between authenticity and performance:

"I'm sure your parents were the same way. You know, their careers didn't beg for us to be so open with [themselves]," Ferguson said. "And even I'm still learning how to open up in ways. I still have to keep parts of myself private."

Ah, the sacred dance of the public queer. Show just enough sparkle to inspire, but not so much that you expose your entire sequined soul. It's a balancing act most queer folks know intimately -- even if they've never stepped onto a red carpet.

And then there's the oversharing conundrum, as Ferguson puts it:

"We're expected in this industry to go on talk shows and talk about our personal life... If I go on a talk show and tell a story about the family, it's like, 'Why did you have to share that?' And I was like, 'Well, because it's a charming story about my life.'"

The man just wants to tell a cute anecdote about brunch with his husband. Is that so wrong?

Since Modern Family, Ferguson has moved on to roles in Cocaine Bear, Elsbeth, and Mid-Century Modern, proving that gay doesn't have to be the entire plot -- it can just be part of the character. Or, in Jesse's case, part of the charm.

And while his father might still be catching up, audiences have long since arrived. Jesse Tyler Ferguson didn't just play a gay character -- he played the long game, showing that being out, funny, and genuine could move mountains, shift minds, and maybe even get a few dads to rethink their questions.

So here's to Jesse -- three-time come-outer, sitcom sweetheart, and our patron saint of charmingly awkward family conversations.

And to all the queer people still having "the talk" with someone who should know better: hang in there. Maybe, like Jesse, you'll get them there. Even if it takes three times.