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Kantaras v. Kantaras: Transsexual Custody Battle
 
 
Michael and Linda Kantaras both want custody of their children. But this isn't an ordinary divorce case. Michael Kantaras was born as Margo, and his wife Linda says that since her husband was born a woman, their marriage is void — leaving Michael with no rights to her two children.

The case is unprecedented in Florida, where it goes to trial in Clearwater before Judge Gerard O'Brien.

Besides determining the particulars of the Kantaras' divorce, the case raises larger issues. O'Brien will ultimately have to decide more complex issues such as whether Florida law recognizes the new sex of a transgendered person, what constitutes gender and how marriage is defined.

"It borders on medical science, psychology, psychiatry — all of which may be material to a decision," O'Brien said according to the St. Petersburg Times.

The Kantaras Marriage

Linda Gail Forsythe met Michael John Kantaras in 1988 while they worked together in Albertson's supermarket near Melbourne, Fla.

"He has a wonderful charisma and aura," said Linda Kantaras, 33, told the Times. "He can stand in a room and 50 women will come up to him."

Their courtship led to marriage less than a year later. On July 18, 1989, the couple was married in a civil ceremony in Lake Mary, Fla. Both agree that Linda was aware that Michael was born a female when the two were married.

At the time of the marriage, Linda had a one-month-old son, Matthew, from a previous relationship. Wanting to raise the boy as his own, Michael Kantaras, with Linda's support and assistance, legally adopted the child that September.

For the next nine years, the Kantaras family lived mostly in New Port Richey, Fla. Michael worked as a bakery manager, while Linda became a substitute teacher.

When the couple wanted to have a child of their own, they turned to Michael's brother Thomas for a sperm donation. On January 23, 1992, Linda gave birth to Irina Kantaras.

From all accounts, the family seemed happy.

But in 1998, their seemingly perfect marriage began to fall apart. Michael Kantaras allegedly met another woman. At first, he wanted to stay married to Linda as her best friend, but soon he filed for divorce in Pasco County and sought custody of the two children.

Linda Kantaras countersued, claiming in court that their marriage was not legal.

"Trying to take my kids from me? That's ludicrous," she said, according to the Times report.

Both sides are now fighting over the same things that divide most other divorcing spouses — child custody, alimony and property settlements. But this divorce case has a decidedly unusual twist.

Michael's Past

Margo Kantaras was born on March 26, 1959, in Youngstown, Ohio, to an American mother and a Greek-born father.

As early as the age of four, Margo began feeling that she should have been born a boy.

In March 1986, Margo was granted a legal name change by a Texas court. Officially known as Michael John Kantaras, she sought a sex-change operation. A gender treatment program in Galveston, Texas, approved Michael for the surgery in February 1987.

The surgery — removal of the fallopian tubes, ovaries and uterus — was completed in April 1988.

According to a letter from doctors at the clinic where the surgery was performed, Michael Kantaras was "now regarded medically, legally, and socially as a male."

Michael Kantaras' Case

Collin Vause, the attorney for Michael Kantaras, essentially argues in his court filings that Kantaras should be treated as any other male would be in similar circumstances.

Despite the fact that he was born a woman, argues Vause, Michael Kantaras is a man, husband, and father — with all of the rights normally associated with that status.

According to Michael Kantaras, he and Linda have always considered themselves a legally married couple. In addition, Kantaras claims that Linda has always told the children that Michael is their father. Neither side disputes that he's the only father either child has ever known.

For the entire length of their marriage, according to Michael Kantaras, Linda regarded Michael as her husband, referring to him as such to friends, co-workers, and family members. The couple filed yearly joint tax returns, which Linda Kantaras apparently signed.

Even as the relationship crumbled, claims Michael, Linda asserted in court papers that she was indeed married to him, and that he was the father of her children.

According to his court filings, it was not until Michael attempted to move out of Florida with the children that Linda Kantaras moved asserted the position that she and Michael were never legally married.

That position, according to Michael Kantaras, is bunk. He says he's legally a male, and therefore, legally married to Linda.

As for his children, Michael Kantaras insists that he is their primary source of food, shelter, and clothing. He claims that his adoption of Matthew was legal and valid, as was the sperm donor arrangement through which their daughter Irina was conceived.

Terminating his rights as the children's father, says Kantaras, would constitute a substantial threat of demonstrable harm to the children's welfare.

Linda Kantaras' Case

According to Linda Kantaras, her husband has no legal leg to stand on, simply because Michael Kantaras was never really her husband. Linda asserts that, despite his surgery, Michael was never legally declared a man. According to court documents, Linda charges that Michael only completed two phases of a three-step process to becoming a man. And since same-sex marriage is not recognized by the state of Florida, the couple has never truly been married.

Because she insists that Michael Kantaras is legally a woman, Linda Kantaras argues that he obtained the couple's marriage license under false pretenses.

She likewise charges that Michael's misrepresentation of himself as a male similarly negates his adoption of her son, Matthew, or his claims to be the legal father of Irina.

Interestingly, Linda Kantaras is apparently asking the court to order Michael Kantaras to pay her alimony while simultaneously claiming the two were never married. Likewise, in spite of her claims that Michael Kantaras is not and never was the legal father of her children, she is asking the court to order that he provide for those children financially.

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What About the Kids?

http://www.courttv.com/trials/kantaras/012502_ctv.html

The lawyer for a woman battling her transsexual husband over custody of their two children scrapped with a court-appointed psychologist Friday over the harm their father's transsexualism might have done to the children.

Attorney Claudia Wheeler charged that the young son of Michael Kantaras frequently saw his father removing socks — used to sculpt a penis-like bulge — from his groin area, and even imitated his father at times, a claim she told the court she will substantiate when she presents her case next week.

"Let's talk about a little boy putting socks in his pants. You think that that might have given Matthew some problems in that area?" the lawyer asked Dr. Robert Dies during cross-examination.

When the doctor demurred, the lawyer continued, "How often does a normal man think about his penis in a given hour?"

Laughing, the doctor replied, "I don't know."

"It's a lot, isn't it Dr. Dies?" she asked.

"I don't think so," Dies said.

"It's a very important part of his body, yes?" Wheeler asked.

Whether or not his father has one," the doctor answered.

Dies had testified Thursday that he believed Michael Kantaras, 42, would be the best parent for the two children he shares with Linda Kantaras, a 33-year-old substitute teacher, regardless of his lack of a penis. Kantaras underwent hormone therapy and breast, uterus and ovary removal to become a man but did not have surgery to implant a penis.

Linda Kantaras

On Friday, Wheeler asked the doctor whether he had left out the effect Kantaras' transsexualism might have had on the children when making his decision about which parent was more suitable.

"Michael did not come to me as a transgendered individual. He came to me as a parent who loves his children," Dies replied. "What's between his legs, to me, is not a relevant issue, other than the impact to the children. And the children have come a long way in the past two and half years in coming to terms with that."

Michael Kantaras adopted Matthew Kantaras, now 12, soon after the couple was married in 1989. Ten-year-old Irina Kantaras was born in 1992 using sperm from Michael Kantaras' brother.

Linda Kantaras entered the marriage with the knowledge that her husband was born Margo Kantaras, and the two maintained a happy life together for nine years. But their union came crashing down in 1998 when Michael Kantaras filed for divorce, leaving his wife for one of her best friends.

Over the next three years, a bitter custody battle ensued, with Dies and a group of therapists caught in the middle.

Linda Kantaras says their marriage — and her husband's custody claims — should be considered invalid because he is still legally a female and same-sex marriages are not recognized under Florida law.

Wheeler

Dies testified Thursday that Linda Kantaras had attempted to sabotage her husband's relationship with the children.

"My sense was at that point Linda was seriously labeling Michael, putting him down, and essentially blaming Michael and Sherry [his mistress] totally for the failure of a marriage," he said.

Wheeler raised this point during her cross-examination, asking, "It's not your testimony that they're blameless ... for any of the trauma in this situation, is it, Mr. Dies? It's not your contention that it's [Linda Kantaras'] fault?"

Dies conceded that Michael Kantaras' breakup of the marriage could have contributed to the problems he noted in the children — which included anger and stress management difficulties, as well as self-esteem problems — but said the patterns he observed in them were too deep-seated to be attributed solely to the situation.

Wheeler addressed a November 2001 incident when Linda Kantaras had approached Dies, prepared to reveal to her children that their father was not their father — nor was he a man.

"You let this undereducated, not-too-bright-of-a-lightbulb off the phone with those instructions, didn't you?" the lawyer alleged, referring to her client.

Dies replied that he had struggled with his role as an independent evaluator and had to refrain from acting as a psychologist.

"Isn't it true, Dr. Dies, that you don't believe one single word my client tells you?" charged Wheeler.

"That is not true," Dr. Robert Dies replied calmly, peering over the brim of his reading glasses.

Dies

Wheeler leveled a series of soft-spoken, but pointed, attacks at the psychologist, cutting short many of his answers as he attempted to rebuff her.

But Dies weathered the cross-examination calmly, keeping his testimony restricted to his observations and "12 inches of notes" on the case, and was even able to summon additional details about Linda Kantaras' attitude that appeared to bolster Michael Kantaras' case.

At one point, the psychologist recalled, Linda Kantaras had told him, "If the court says joint custody, I don't want my kids."

Asked about the feasibility of shared custody by Circuit Court Judge Gerard O'Brien — who has taken an active role in this trial and will ultimately rule which parent gets custody of the children — Dies replied, "This is a high conflict couple in many ways."

Testimony will continue Monday at 9:30 a.m. The trial is being broadcast live on Court TV.

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Title XLIII - Domestic Relations

Chapter 741 - Husband And Wife

741.212 Marriages between persons of the same sex

(1) Marriages between persons of the same sex entered into in any jurisdiction, whether within or outside the State of Florida, the United States, or any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location, or relationships between persons of the same sex which are treated as marriages in any jurisdiction, whether within or outside the State of Florida, the United States, or any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location, are not recognized for any purpose in this state.

(2) The state, its agencies, and its political subdivisions may not give effect to any public act, record, or judicial proceeding of any state, territory, possession, or tribe of the United States or of any other jurisdiction, either domestic or foreign, or any other place or location respecting either a marriage or relationship not recognized under subsection (1) or a claim arising from such a marriage or relationship.

(3) For purposes of interpreting any state statute or rule, the term "marriage" means only a legal union between one man and one woman as husband and wife, and the term "spouse" applies only to a member of such a union.

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Transsexual custody trial begins with age-old question: What makes a man?

http://www.courttv.com/trials/kantaras/012202_ctv.html

Is sex in the mind or the body? That was the question in a Florida court Tuesday as the custody battle between a transsexual man and his wife of 10 years got under way.

Central to the case of Michael Kantaras — who was born in 1959 as Margo Kantaras but took hormones and had his breasts, uterus, and ovaries removed to become a man — is the notion that sexual identity is a mental, not a physical construct.

"Sex is between your ears, not between your legs," testified Walter Bockting, an expert on transsexualism, on Michael Kantaras' behalf.

Bockting, a clinical psychologist who says he has helped 150 "gender dysphoric" individuals switch genders, was the only witness to testify in the opening day of this precedent-setting custody battle.

Linda Kantaras

Kantaras' wife, Linda Kantaras, claims that because her husband was born as a woman, their 1989 marriage is void under a 1998 Florida law banning same-sex marriages.

Linda Kantaras, 33, brought to the marriage a 1-month-old son, Matthew, whom Michael Kantaras adopted that year. Then, in 1992, Linda gave birth to a daughter, Irina, using sperm from Michael's brother, Thomas.

It was Michael Kantaras, however, who in 1998 filed in Pasco County, Fla., for divorce and custody of the couple's two children, now ages 9 and 12, after allegedly becoming involved with another woman.

The bench trial, the first of its kind in Florida, will provide Circuit Court Judge Gerard O'Brien the opportunity to set precedent on a number of issues, beginning with an age-old question revisited: What makes a man a man?

Bockting testified that the right genetic code isn't the only factor.

The expert said how the process of gender reassignment can also turn women into men. Gender reassignment, he explained, consists of three steps, taking male hormones, living for a period of time in the masculine "gender role," and receiving surgery to alter the body to remove some or all of the external female sexual characteristics.

Some transsexuals must undergo such a transformation, Bockting said, to relieve the psychological afflictions caused by feeling assigned to the wrong gender.

"One of my patients actually tried to cut off his breasts, because that wasn't how he saw himself," he said. "That is the level of despair that some female-to-male-transsexuals experience."

In 1987, Michael Kantaras underwent reassignment surgery at a Galveston, Texas, clinic — a procedure that removed his breasts and sculpted a male chest, and that removed his uterus and ovaries. However, Kantaras never had a penis constructed, which Linda Kantaras claimed in court documents to be grounds for considering him to be female.

Bockting told the court that a complete surgical transformation, however, is expensive and unnecessary for the reassignment to be complete. According to the expert, less than 10 percent of female-to-male transsexuals undergo phalloplasty, a surgical procedure that uses skin grafts and fat transplants to construct a penis in the place of the clitoris.

O'Brien, who interjected often to question the expert, asked, "Do you believe that having a small penis or having no penis at all makes an individual less of a man?"

"No," Bockting said.

Karen Doering, the lawyer for Michael Kantaras, closed her examination of Bockting with a nod toward the effect this case could have on her client's psychological well-being.

"And what would be the psychological, social, physical response of a person who has ... completed the sex reassignment process ... to then be declared by the court to be the gender they were assigned at birth rather than the one that they received through reassignment?" she asked.

"Well, I think that would be devastating. It's really an invalidation of their whole being," Bockting answered.

During the bulk of her examination, Doering led the expert through questions emphasizing the mental part of one's sexual identity.

O'Brien, however, asked a number of questions about the physical side of identity, at one point going into a lengthy rhetorical excursion on the chromosomal underpinnings of gender.

During her cross-examination, Linda Kantaras' attorney, Claudia Jean Wheeler, alluded to the Kantaras' son, asking whether a child would have problems if "he finds out that his father used to be a woman and the socks that he used to put in his pants are there because his dad used to put socks in his pants?"

"The way in which this news is presented is at least as important if not more important than the nature of the news," Bockting replied.

Following Wheeler's cross, O'Brien posed one final question, asking the expert whether male bonding would be hampered if the father lacked a penis.

"That male bonding where a male and a boy are involved is very important," O'Brien said. "Can a male undergo reciprocal bonding with a male whom he understands was born a woman and still maintains some physical characteristics of a woman?"

"He might not have as big of a penis, but he is a man," Bockting replied.

Live coverage of the trial on Court TV will continue at 9 a.m. Wednesday.

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Transsexual's mother: 'I was blessed twice'
http://www.courttv.com/trials/kantaras/012302_ctv.html

The mother of a transsexual who is fighting for custody of his children testified Wednesday that a sex change operation did not change the way she felt about her child.

"I feel that I was blessed twice," said Irene Kantaras, 75. "Now I'm blessed with a young man who has compassion, honor, integrity — I don't think anything else counts. He's never given us a day to doubt who he is."

Irene Kantaras told the court that even as a child, Michael Kantaras displayed a masculine side.

At the toy store, she said, "he went straight to the toys for cowboys and Indians. We bought him a cap and guns, and he was the proudest kid you ever saw."

Her son had an aversion for girlish things, Kantaras testified. "I think I bought him [a doll] one Christmas, and he then went and threw it to his other sister Kathy and said, 'Here, you know what to do with these.'"

He also disliked girl's clothes. "Michael had a habit of passing out on me every time I put dresses on him," she testified.

All of these likes and dislikes finally made sense to Irene Kantaras when her son told her about his decision to have a sex change. At first, the revelation was a shock, she said, but now, "Michael is Michael to me ... He's been Michael for 15 years."

He was Michael when he married Linda Kantaras in 1989. The 33-year-old schoolteacher — who knew her husband had been born Margo Kantaras — already had a son, Matthew. Kantaras adopted Matthew that year, and the couple had a second child, Irena, in 1992 using sperm from Michael Kantaras' brother.

Linda Kantaras' central claim in the case is that her husband, who underwent hormone therapy and the removal of his uterus and ovaries, is still a woman because he hasn't taken the final step — replacing his vagina with a surgically grafted penis. She has argued that their marriage is therefore void under a 1998 Florida law banning same-sex marriages.

Lawyers for Michael Kantaras, however, say that the process of "sexual reassignment" should not require phalloplasty — the surgical implantation of a penis made from skin and fat taken from the patient's own body — because the process is costly, dangerous and often unsuccessful. His lawyers have also tried to paint their client as a loving father.

Michael Kantaras' father, John Kantaras, testified that in 1998, after the couple had separated, he often took groceries to Linda Kantaras and the children at Michael's request.

But in July 1998, he went to the house but was left standing on the porch. "Nobody opened the door," he testified. "I feel terrible to go to my daughter's house and can't even see my grandchildren."

Pam Thomas, sister of Sherry Noodwang — the woman with whom Michael Kantaras was allegedly having the affair that caused him to seek a divorce in 1998 — testified that Michael Kantaras got on well with her children and his own.

They all really liked him," Newdang said. "He was very witty, funny and relaxed."

Thomas also told the court that on July 4, 1999, Linda Kantaras confronted her in her home.

"I told her she had no business being there, and she said, 'Well, [your sister] broke up my family,'" Thomas said.

"I took Sherry by the arm and said 'Sherry let's go in the house.' [Linda Kantaras] said, 'Well do you know your sister is a lesbian and Michael's a woman?'"
Ted Huang, the plastic surgeon who performed Michael Kantaras' breast removal surgery.

The Anatomy of 'Man'

Also testifying Wednesday was a medical doctor who was involved in Michael Kantaras' physical transformation.

"Surgery is not a piece of cake," testified Ted Huang, a doctor who has treated more than 120 female-to-male transsexuals.

Some surgery is necessary, Huang said. "When a patient has a problem with their own sex identification, the only treatment that is effective is to try to change the body configuration to fit their mind."

But when Karen Doering, the lawyer for Michael Kantaras asked the doctor, "Is a penis necessary to make someone a man?" the surgeon replied, "No."

Referring at times to the implanted penis as a "meat tube," a "sausage" and a "pee-pee pipe," Huang differentiated between breast removal surgery, which he said nearly all of his patients chose to undergo, and phalloplasty, which he had only performed on 15 of his patients.

According to Huang, the procedure can sideline a patient for more than a year, and leaves him with a penis that is functional neither as a sexual tool nor as a conduit for urine.

The result of this surgery "at best would be a tube of skin and meat hanging in between your legs," Huang said.

To have sex, Huang said, the patient would have to insert a stiff plastic rod into the phallus. Even then, the surgeon testified, "the whole segment of that meat tube can go in and out of the vaginal [cavity] but the patient does not know whether it's in or out. In the true sense of sexual intercourse, it really does not take place."

And with time, Huang added, the phallus would degrade as the fat layers changed shape. "Even though the patient may be happy soon after surgery, with time it will change," the doctor said. After a while, he said, "to me it kind of looks like a dried-up cucumber."

Through his testimony, Huang implied that Michael Kantaras has taken his sex change operation as far as should be required under Florida law for him to be declared male. But when Huang asserted his belief that Kantaras was legally a man, Circuit Court Judge Gerard O'Brien interjected to say that it wasn't the doctor's decision to make.

"It's this court that has the duty of defining whether or not he is a legal male," Gerard said. "It may be that the medical path and the legal paths will join at some appropriate time, but until that happens, the courts have to make up their minds as to what is a legal male."

O'Brien, who alone will decide the trial's outcome, has taken an active role, extensively questioning both Huang and Dr. Michael Bockting, the psychologist who testified Tuesday.

On cross-examination, Linda Kantaras' attorney, Claudia Wheeler, seized upon Huang's personal convictions to try to portray the doctor as an extremist.

"Do you think it's even necessary to distinguish between male and female?" the attorney asked.

"It was necessary in the past," Huang said. "Today it becomes unnecessary. This practice came from our animalistic beliefs. We found out we were wrong. Regardless of the sex, they're just as good — equally good or equally bad."

Testimony will continue at 9 a.m. Thursday. The trial is being broadcast live on Court TV.

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Chronology

http://www.courttv.com/trials/kantaras/chronology.html

March 26, 1959  

Born a female named Margo Kantaras in Youngstown, Ohio, to an American mother and Greek-born father

March 10, 1986

Margo Kantaras legally changes her name to Michael John Kantaras in Texas

February 25, 1987

Michael Kantaras is approved by the Gender Treatment Program at the Rosenberg Clinic in Texas for sex reassignment surgery

April 3, 1987

Undergoes sex reassignment surgery, which entails the removal of the fallopian tubes, uterus and ovaries

June 3, 1989

Linda Gail Forsythe gives birth to Matthew Thomas Forsythe

July 18, 1989

Linda Gail Forsythe and Michael John Kantaras marry in a civil ceremony in Lake Mary, Fla.

September 6, 1989

Michael Kantaras legally adopts Matthew

March 1991

Michael Kantaras' brother, Thomas, donates sperm to his brother and sister-in-law at the Fertility Institute of Northwest Florida

January 23, 1992

Linda Kantaras gives birth to a girl she and Michael name Irina

October 20, 1999

The Ohio birth certificate of Margo Kantaras is changed to reflect the name "Michael Kantaras" and sex as "male"

September 9, 1998

Michael Kantaras files for divorce

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Court-appointed psychologist sides with transsexual
http://www.courttv.com/trials/kantaras/012402_ctv.html
By Matt Bean
Court TV

A transsexual, not his wife, should have custody of their two children, a court-appointed psychologist testified Thursday in a landmark Florida custody battle.

"My considerate opinion is that Michael Kantaras would be the more appropriate parent for these children," said Dr. Robert Dies, an independent custody evaluator. "The evidence much more substantially comes down on behalf of the children being in the custody of their father."

The custody trial, which is now in its third day, has thus far centered on the sex of Michael Kantaras, a transsexual who has had his breasts and uterus removed but still has a vagina. Kantaras, 42, is battling his former wife of nine years, Linda Kantaras, a 33-year-old substitute teacher who says their marriage—and his custody claims— should be considered invalid because he is still legally a female.

But today the focus shifted to the children, 12-year-old Matthew Kantaras—conceived by his mother and another man and adopted by Michael Kantaras after their 1989 marriage — and 10-year-old Irina Kantaras — conceived after the marriage using sperm from Michael's brother. Dies' testimony was the best look that those involved with this Pasco County trial are likely to get of the two, whom lawyers have said will not testify in court.

Spending nearly the entire day on the stand, the psychologist laid out a picture of the children's psyches using interviews and observations that he and other psychologists conducted between 1998, after the couple's separation, and 2001.

At first, Dies said, the children were positive about their father. In an April 1999 evaluation featuring a "fill in the blank" quiz, Matthew Kantaras said in fact that "what I want to most of all is 'go fishing with my dad,'" Dies testified. When asked what was the most important thing in the world to her, Irina Kantaras replied, "That my mom and dad love me."

Later, however, the children seemed to turn against their father.

In one session, Matthew began cursing his father, saying "he's a prick, and [calling him] the f-word, bastard," according to the psychologist. The child added, "I wish I could punch them, Sherry and Dad. I don't like Sherry. She's butt-ugly."

During the psychologist's fifth meeting with the children, Matthew even threatened to shoot his father, and said "he made me miserable. If he really loved me, he'd change to become a man instead of a half-boy, half-girl."

Irina's attitude also took an abrupt about-face. At one point during therapy with another doctor, Dies reported, she spontaneously confronted her father and said "you need to have privates and balls to be a man."

According to Dies, it wasn't growing pains that caused Michael Kantaras' children to reject him — it was his wife. The drastic shift, Dies said, was caused by Linda Kantaras, who allegedly conducted a campaign designed to alienate the children from their father.

"There is all kinds of evidence," Dies testified, "that led me to think about Linda interfering with Michael's relationship with the children. My sense was at that point Linda was seriously labeling Michael, putting him down, and essentially blaming Michael and Sherry totally for the failure of a marriage."

In an April 2001 joint session with Linda and her children, for example, Linda Kantaras "portrayed Michael as a troubled individual living a lie because of his gender reassignment," Dies said, adding with a glance at his notes that the children "hear Michael described as an 'it,' a woman and a he-she, and given the name of "Margel," which is a combination of Michael and Margo."

That wasn't the only thing Linda Kantaras did, according to Dies. He said Kantaras also frequently interfered with Michael Kantaras' visits. The children lived with their mother since the 1998 separation. And the most important thing in choosing which parent gets custody, said the doctor, was choosing a parent that wouldn't get in the way of visitations from the non-residential parent.

The most serious thing Linda Kantaras did, however, was in November 2000, he testified, when she revealed to the children that their father not only was not their biological father — he was born as a woman.

Linda Kantaras had come to Dies saying that people in the community had knowledge of Michael Kantaras' sex change operation, and that she wanted her children to know the truth from her, not from their teachers or other children in the community. She revealed to the children their father's secret — to their marked dismay and astonishment.

But later, Dies testified, he learned where the information leak to the community was coming from: Linda Kantaras herself.

"It was clear that Linda was sharing that kind of information in the community," Dies testified. "It becomes a systematic set of tactics to bring about a rupture in the relationship ... between the alienated parent and the children. When the disclosure to the children happened, that just played into the bigger picture of alienation that was going on in this family."

Fortunately, therapy with two separate psychologists was able to restore the children's respect for their father, Dies testified. But numerous times, Matthew and Irina Kantaras told the doctor they would prefer to live with their mother.

Despite the children's preference, Dies decided in an April 2001 report that Michael Kantaras should get the children.

"Obviously that was a very difficult decision to make in light of the children's consistent position that they'd like to live with their mother," Dies said. "Given the systematic poisoning," he testified, "Michael has not been given the chance that he deserved." Dies added that the children are likely afraid to express positive feelings toward their father.

Since that report, the children's attitudes changed drastically, Dies testified. In a session just one month ago, Dies reported, Irina said she wanted to live with her father—because her mother was too strict. Matthew, however, reportedly condemned his father as a sinner, saying he "needed to repent, as he is a lesbian, and is still a woman."

Linda Kantaras' attorney, Claudia Wheeler, will cross-examine Dies on Friday.
Monica Jordan, the sister of Michael Kantaras' new girlfriend

Another witness gave further insights into the efforts Linda Kantaras made to taint her children's view of their father.

Kantaras' attorney, Collin Vause, called Monica Jordan, a family friend who originally met Linda and Michael Kantaras through the PTA. Jordan told the court that she was part of a trio of girlfriends with Linda and Sherry Noodwang — Michael Kantaras' current girlfriend.

During 1997 and 1998, the three women spent a great deal of time together, going bowling, relaxing at the beach, or just talking at each other's homes.

But in July 1998, Jordan testified, Linda Kantaras revealed to her that her husband wanted to leave her for Sherry Noodwang. Jordan testified that she was incensed at their friend, and called to tell the woman that she didn't want to speak to her again.

A week later, Linda Kantaras took her to the family home and revealed that Michael had sexual reassignment, showing her pictures of him before and after the operation. One of the pictures Linda took out was a picture of Michael Kantaras sunbathing—and on his exposed chest were the scars left over from his breast removal surgery.

Soon after, Jordan testified, Linda Kantaras began acting irrational. "I just kind of backed out of the picture," she said. "She was very, very upset that Michael and Sherry were together and she wasn't going to stop at anything to keep Sherry away from her kids."

Jordan also testified that Michael Kantaras seemed like a loving and devoted father and that they respected him.

On cross-examination, Wheeler pointed out that Linda Kantaras' transsexual husband had left her for one of her best friends, and asked whether under those circumstances, "do you think her behavior was the least bit unusual?"

"Unusual to hate Sherry so much, yes," Jordan replied.

Wheeler also asked why Jordan willingly viewed the pictures of Michael Kantaras. "Michael was always Michael to me," the witness testified. "I needed proof in my own mind."

Vauss called another family friend of the Kantaras,' Diana Lee Barbar, to try to show that Linda Kantaras had systematically tried to spread negative information about her husband throughout the community.

In brief testimony, Barbar testified that Linda Kantaras called her in the winter of 1998 warning her that Michael Kantaras had molested her child and could have done the same to her kids.

Her husband, Barbar said, ended the conversation by grabbing the phone and hanging up on Kantaras.

Testimony will continue at 9:30 a.m. Friday. The trial is being broadcast live on Court TV.
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Transgendered man fights for custody
      Dan Kerman, Gay.com / PlanetOut.com Network
      Wednesday, January 23, 2002 / 04:06 PM

SUMMARY: Testimony continued Wednesday in a Florida custody case that could have dramatic implications for transgendered people.

Testimony continued Wednesday in a Florida custody case that could have dramatic implications for transgendered people.

It raises a variety of questions, including: Does Florida law view a female-to-male transsexual as a man? If a female-to-male transsexual marries a woman, is that marriage legal; and if not, does the transsexual have any child custody rights?

Michael Kantaras was born Margo Kantaras in 1959 but completed sexual reassignment surgery in 1988. A year later Kantaras married Linda Forsythe in Lake Mary, Fla., and adopted her one-month-old son from a previous relationship. At the time of the marriage, Forsythe was aware that Kantaras was born a woman. The couple then decided they wanted a child of their own. Using sperm donated by Michael's brother, Linda gave birth to a daughter in January 1992.

In 1998, Michael Kantaras filed for divorce and sought custody of his two children. Linda Kantaras then filed a suit of her own. She claims Michael is not her husband because he was never legally declared a man. And since the state of Florida does not recognize same-sex marriage, she claims they are not actually married and he is not entitled to custody of their children.

"It's typical of the type of problems transsexuals run into," said Denise LeClair with the International Foundation for Gender Education. "She was fully aware that the partner was transsexual. It didn't bother her then, but then she comes back and uses it as a weapon," she told the Gay.com/PlanetOut.com Network.

Michael Kantaras' attorneys are arguing that despite being born a woman, he is now a man and the father of the children and is entitled to all the rights normally associated with husbands and fathers. They also argue that ending his parental rights would be harmful to his children.

The trial began Tuesday with testimony from Walter Bockting, a clinical psychologist and transgender expert who discussed sexual identity from a physical and emotional standpoint. Wednesday, the court heard testimony from Dr. Ted Huang, the physician who performed the sexual reassignment surgery. Circuit Court Senior Judge Gerard O'Brien has played an active role in questioning witnesses throughout the testimony.

LeClair says it's time the government got out of both "the gender business and the marriage business. As long as the government is defining your sex for you and using it as the basis for who you can marry, we will continue to run into these problems," she says

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