Custody case turns to anatomy

CLEARWATER -- The issue would seem to have little relevance in a child custody dispute: The definition of masculinity.

But it was a central topic in hours of testimony Monday as transsexual Michael Kantaras continued his battle in Pinellas-Pasco Circuit Court to get custody of his two children from his ex-wife, Linda Kantaras.

It was a day filled with explicit testimony about the anatomy of people who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery and the resulting sexual and psychological function. No question, it seemed, was too intrusive.

"It is horrifying to us to have to delve into this level of detail about Michael's treatment," said Shannon Minter, a lawyer from the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who is serving on Michael Kantaras' legal team. "The only reason we are doing so is because we have to protect his relationship with his children. She (Linda Kantaras) is forcing him to prove he is male. It is very embarrassing."

Michael Kantaras, 42, of Holiday, began life as Margo Kantaras, but was overwhelmed with feelings that she ought to be a man. In 1986, she underwent sexual reassignment surgery: surgeons removed her breasts and reproductive organs and prescribed hormone therapy to help in the transition from Margo to Michael. The resulting physique, and the effect of the absence of a penis, was something Claudia Wheeler, Linda Kantaras' lawyer, asked numerous questions about.

"This is a world where a lot of things aren't perfect," said Collier Cole, a psychologist from Galveston, Texas, who treated Michael Kantaras before and after surgery. "It doesn't make anybody less of a parent."

Cole said in his years of treating people who have undergone sexual reassignment surgery, he has seen many transsexuals go on to have productive lives with partners, marrying and raising children. The children involved in the dispute are a 10-year-old girl the couple conceived through artificial insemination with sperm from Michael Kantaras' brother, and a 12-year-old boy whom Linda Kantaras conceived in another relationship, but whom Michael Kantaras adopted shortly after birth.

Linda and Michael Kantaras separated in 1998 after Michael became attracted to another woman and had an affair.

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