Jesbian, International Little Miss Little 2014 and Co-Vice President of The Little Scouts SF, has designed a wonderful flag to represent the Little Scouts and wrote this article discussing the meaning of that flag in identifying our community:
As a leather little I slowly progressed in the leather community as a "girl" and I earned my first hanky, hunter green, for my service to the women’s community by being a house service submissive for a full year. It was announcing I’m a “service leather little”. Soon I began to also flag mint along with hunter because my service was being given to multiple Bigs, including my community. I wasn’t flagging for “Mommy” or “Daddy” but instead the colors represented my little identity. I realized that my greatest happiness came from being that good little helper!
However, in the community around me I was noticing a big trend among littles. Discussion group after discussion group, at munches and meet-ups, it seemed like all I would see were littles in search of a Mommy or Daddy. I often saw littles expressing hurt feelings that they were missing pieces without that type of Big relationship to “complete” them. THere was a lack of a cohesive littles community and places where littles could learn from each other and find a place of belonging.
Then I met two littles, Carolyn and Zoey, who had banded together to make littles important not only for each other but to the larger community. They created a place where BIgs, Middles, and Littles of all lypes could come together for a stronger community and form their own chosen families. They broke the mold of old worn out stereotypes in age play and instead, created a place to learn together and build support. They did this by creating a group called Little Scouts!
Little Scouts is a place for all sorts of chosen families, including Bigs, Middles, Littles, or anything in between! The community is a place to share, learn, and grow together.
Most of all it has become a place for us to show that our community is capable of doing more! OUr little hearts are full of unconditional love for serving others as little
helpers and building bridges as part of the leather and age play communities. In doing so, not only did we form safe spaces and volunteer opportunities for age players, we produced real change toward changing perceptions of littles and reducing stigma around age play.
In creating the Little Scout’s flag, I chose to show our pride in being Big little helpers and service leather littles by going back to my roots as a leather little girl. The flag contains two hunter and two mint green stripes to represent all sides of Age Play. Whether that be with the Big, Middle, or Little in the dominant role or submissive role. It transcends the notion of how those identities can be portrayed. Still leaving space for the traditional DD/lg or Mommy/boy but also for people to define their own chosen families, be that Gardener to their little flower, Little to their pet, brother to sister, or handler to a mermaid! It’s all about the symbiotic relationships of our age play identities that nurture and feed you, whatever that may be. The white stripe is for purity in those open, honest and understanding relationships and the red heart is for the love of our true selves, love for our family and friends as well as love for the leather and age play communities.
This flag is meant to be a conversation starter about Big, Middle, and Little identities. It is about the pride of our chosen families, and how we can support and come together as one. Our flag shows how age players have the heart and pride of the leather community in them, filled with unconditional love. We promote service, care, education, and show kindness to create a better path for others to follow in.
- Jesbian
