Ariel Levy spends some time with Lamar Van Dyke, the last of the Van Dykes for her feature “Lesbian Nation, When Gay Women Took To The Road.” The Van Dykes were a female separatist group that began in the late 1970s but had their beginnings in the 60s anti-war movement. The Van Dykes was a fitting name for lesbians who lived in vans and traveled the continent. Ariel gets into the history of the female separatist movement and fault lines within the movement, the battle between pro-sex feminists and anti-sex feminists, and the effect of BDSM on the lesbian community. “Your generation wants to fit in,” Lamar says. “Gays in the military and gay marriage? This is what you guys have come up with?” It’s a fascinating article, the kind The New Yorker does well, but perhaps not often enough, when they introduce you to someone or something you wouldn’t have heard about otherwise. It reminded me of their profile of Paul Watson, probably the best New Yorker piece in the last several years. Here is Ariel Levy talking about meeting Lamar Van Dyke and what’s become of her and women’s communities.

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