The Van Dykes were an itinerant band of

lesbian separatist Feminist separatism is the theory that feminist opposition to patriarchy can be achieved through women's separation from men.Christine Skelton, Becky Francis, ''Feminism and the Schooling Scandal'', Taylor & Francis, 2009 ,p. 104 Because much ...

vegans Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet (nutrition), diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is kn ...

, founded in 1977 in the United States by

Heather Elizabeth Heather may refer to: Plants *The heather family, or Ericaceae, particularly: **Common heather or ling, ''Calluna'' **Various species of the genus ''Cassiope'' **Various species of the genus '' Erica'' Name * Heather (given name) * Heather (s ...

and Ange Spalding. Members of the group identified as dykes and lived in

van A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. Depending on the type of van, it can be bigger or smaller than a pickup truck and SUV, and bigger than a common car. There is some varying in the scope of the word across th ...

s, traveling throughout Canada, the United States, and Mexico, stopping only on

womyn's land Womyn's land is an intentional community organised by Lesbian Separatism, lesbian separatists to establish Counterculture, counter-cultural, women-centred space, without the presence of men. These lands were the result of a social movement of ...

History

In 1976, Heather Elizabeth Nelson, her ex-girlfriend Chris Fox, and another lesbian couple had purchased a run-down farm seventy miles outside of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

in an attempt to create womyn's land where agricultural self-sustenance, separatism, and

non-monogamy Non-monogamy (or nonmonogamy) is an umbrella term for every practice or philosophy of non- dyadic intimate relationship that does not strictly hew to the standards of monogamy, particularly that of having only one person with whom to exchange se ...

were practiced. Elizabeth met Ange Spalding on a road trip to Toronto, who had been living in her van for a year. Together Elizabeth and Spalding formed the Van Dykes, with Spalding taking on the name Brook Van Dyke while Elizabeth became Heather Van Dyke and later the name Lamar Van Dyke (named after

Hedy Lamarr Hedy Lamarr (; born Hedwig Eva Maria Kiesler; November 9, 1914 January 19, 2000) was an Austrian-born American film actress and inventor. A film star during Hollywood's golden age, Lamarr has been described as one of the greatest movie actresse ...

). Chris Fox became Thorn Van Dyke. The Van Dykes shaved their heads, avoided men unless necessary, and believed that the world was being subjected to testosterone poisoning. After driving to Texas, several more women had joined the caravan: Thorn's girlfriend Judith Van Dyke, Sky Van Dyke and Birch Van Dyke. Together, six Van Dykes drove four vans to the

Yucatán Peninsula The Yucatán Peninsula (, also , ; es, Península de Yucatán ) is a large peninsula in southeastern Mexico and adjacent portions of Belize and Guatemala. The peninsula extends towards the northeast, separating the Gulf of Mexico to the north ...

, visiting Chichén Itzá. The caravan stayed in

Cozumel Cozumel (; yua, Kùutsmil) is an island and municipality in the Caribbean Sea off the eastern coast of Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, opposite Playa del Carmen. It is separated from the mainland by the Cozumel Channel and is close to the Yucatán ...

for several weeks at the home of a lesbian named Paloma. In Cozumel, the Van Dykes were arrested by the

Mexican Police The Federal Police ( es, Policía Federal, PF), formerly known as the (Federal Preventive Police) and sometimes referred to in the U.S. as " Federales", was a Mexican national police force formed in 1999 and folded into the National Guard in 2019 ...

on unclear charges and held in jail for several hours. An attempt to drive to

Belize Belize (; bzj, Bileez) is a Caribbean and Central American country on the northeastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a wate ...

was aborted and the Van Dykes returned to the United States. The Van Dykes visited womyn's land in Arizona, Arkansas, California, Florida, North Carolina, Oregon, Texas, and New Mexico. After Judith Van Dyke met the sex-positive feminists

Pat Califia Patrick Califia (born 1954; formerly also known as Pat Califia and by the last name Califia-Rice) is an American writer of non-fiction essays about sexuality and of erotic fiction and poetry. Califia is a bisexual trans man. Prior to transiti ...

and

Gayle Rubin Gayle S. Rubin (born January 1, 1949 in South Carolina) is an American cultural anthropologist best known as an activist and theorist of sex and gender politics. She has written on a range of subjects including feminism, sadomasochism, prostitut ...

in San Francisco, who were affiliated with a lesbian

BDSM BDSM is a variety of often erotic practices or roleplaying involving bondage, discipline, dominance and submission, sadomasochism, and other related interpersonal dynamics. Given the wide range of practices, some of which may be engaged ...

group called

Samois Samois was a lesbian- feminist BDSM organization based in San Francisco that existed from 1978 to 1983. It was the first lesbian BDSM group in the United States. It took its name from Samois-sur-Seine, the location of the fictional estate of Ann ...

, the Van Dykes embraced S/M and

leather culture Leather subculture denotes practices and styles of dress organized around sexual activities that involve leather garments, such as leather jackets, vests, boots, chaps, Bondage harness, harnesses, or other items. Wearing leather garments is o ...

. In 1979, the Van Dykes created the first S/M workshop at the

Michigan Womyn's Music Festival The Michigan Womyn's Music Festival, often referred to as MWMF or Michfest, was a feminist women's music festival held annually from 1976 to 2015 in Oceana County, Michigan, on privately owned woodland near Hart Township referred to as "The La ...

, which caused controversy. Lamar Van Dyke chronicled the adventures of the Van Dykes in a comic book titled "Van Dyke Comix."

References

External links

Official website of Lamar Van DykeVan Dykes Project
a project and journal inspired by the Van Dykes. {{Lesbian feminism 1977 establishments in Canada 1977 in LGBT history 1980 disestablishments in the United States American diaspora in Mexico American nomads Canadian-American culture Canadian diaspora in Mexico Feminism in Mexico Feminist organizations in Canada Feminist organizations in the United States LGBT culture in Mexico Lesbian BDSM Lesbian feminist organizations Lesbian feminists Lesbian organizations based in Canada Lesbian organizations in the United States Lesbian separatism LGBT culture in Toronto LGBT in Ontario Modern nomads Radical feminist organizations Radical feminists Sex-positive feminism Vans Veganism in the United States Vegan organizations Women-only spaces

History

See also

References

Further reading

External links