This past fall, Allee Manning (a Westchester based librarian) launched The Westchester LGBTQ+ History Project. Manning has and continues to document the history of the Westchester LGBTQ+ community. One of the oral history interviews that she conducted was with Yonkers residents Michael Sabatino and Robert Voorheis. In their interview, Sabatino and Voorheis describe their long fight for marriage equality. They held a commitment ceremony in 1978 because they could not get legally married. To have an official marriage ceremony, they traveled to Canada in 2003. It was not until 2011 that Sabatino and Voorehis’ marriage was recognized in New York.
Michael Sabatino and Robert Voorheis’ fascinating interview is available on the YPL digital archive. The transcript of the interview is available on the Westchester LGBTQ+ History Project website.
Michael Walsh is an adult services librarian that works at the Will Library. He is currently reading Holly by Stephen King.