TheVan Dykes were an itinerant band oflesbian separatistvegans, founded in 1977 in the United States byHeather Elizabeth andAnge Spalding. Members of the group identified asdykes and lived invans, traveling throughout Canada, the United States, and Mexico, stopping only onwomyn's land.[1][2]
In 1976, Heather Elizabeth Nelson, her ex-girlfriend Chris Fox, and another lesbian couple had purchased a run-down farm seventy miles outside ofToronto in an attempt to create womyn's land where agricultural self-sustenance, separatism, andnon-monogamy 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 afterHedy Lamarr). Chris Fox became Thorn Van Dyke. The Van Dykes shaved their heads, avoided men unless necessary, and believed that the world was being subjected totestosterone 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 theYucatán Peninsula, visitingChichén Itzá. The caravan stayed inCozumel for several weeks at the home of a lesbian named Paloma. In Cozumel, the Van Dykes were arrested by theMexican Police on unclear charges and held in jail for several hours. An attempt to drive toBelize 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 feministsPat Califia andGayle Rubin in San Francisco, who were affiliated with a lesbianBDSM group calledSamois, the Van Dykes embracedS/M andleather culture. In 1979, the Van Dykes created the first S/M workshop at theMichigan Womyn's Music Festival, which caused controversy.[1]
Lamar Van Dyke chronicled the adventures of the Van Dykes in a comic book titled "Van Dyke Comix."[3]
