Leyla Fern King composed the poem “Enough” in support of Jake Bain, who was targeted by the Westboro Baptist Church for being an out gay student at John Burroughs School, and other youth who face discrimination for how they express love and desire. She is performing the poem this morning, when Westboro has planned a protest outside of the school in Ladue.
She is performing it at a student celebration that also will feature comments by Bain and Hunter Sigmund, his boyfriend, both seniors at the school. King, 14, is a freshman at Burroughs and freshman student justice.
“I wrote the poem because the LGBTQIA+ community is important to me,” King told The American (where her father, Chris King, serves as managing editor). “No one should be silenced at their own school. And I am really proud that our whole school is uniting to celebrate Jake and Hunter and the community.”
ENOUGH.
you are enough
and you’ve been that way since the moment
you were conceived.
because even when the world has torn you down time and time
again. you’ve gotten back up.
i’ve watched you brush off the dust on your legs and
care for the bruises on your arms.
you’ve loved and you’ve loved and you’ve loved and you’ve loved and you’ve loved
but even with all the love you have to give, sometimes you have a hard time
giving it to yourself.
but that’s okay.
because just to exist is a statement.
just to be anything other than the norm is brave.
to be gay to be bi to be pan to be trans to be ace. to be anything that isn’t
cisgendered or straight or heteroromantic is amazing
even if you’re not out yet, even if you don’t think you’ll ever be out;
that’s okay.
just breathing in a society that doesn’t want you around is enough.
you are enough. you are enough. you are enough.
the world has torn you down time and time again
and that’s okay
because as long as you exist in this city, in this state, in this country,
on this continent, in this world, in this universe, in this galaxy;
you are worth it. you are brave. you are enough.
