I think the judge in this case deserves a standing ovulation.
Posted on 06/15/2005 7:22:10 PM PDT by SmithL
A historic child custody battle between a transsexual father and his ex-wife ended last Friday in a shared custody agreement that both sides have hailed as nothing short of "miraculous."
A Florida judge approved the settlement Friday between Michael Kantaras, who was born Margo Kantaras, and his ex-wife, Linda Forsythe, ending a seven-year dispute that went all the way to the
Florida Supreme Court and back before the intervention of "The Dr. Phil Show" raised the prospect of compromise.
After two and a half days of guided mediation, the couple agreed on custody terms for Matthew, 16, Linda's child from a previous marriage, who Michael adopted, and Irina, 13, born through artificial insemination from Michael's brother.
The teenagers will spend four more evenings with their mother than their father each month, although both parents will share decision-making authority in their lives, according to their lawyers.
The international media spectacle surrounding the case often lost sight of the children as it focused on the opposing interest groups who used the case as a flashpoint for their issues. But now the parties are united in their characterization of the settlement as a prime example of a divorced couple putting the needs of their children ahead of their own.
"The time is now to bring stability to the lives of the children," said Linda Forsythe's lawyer, Mathew Staver, also president and general counsel of Liberty Counsel, a Christian firm dedicated to "advancing religious freedom, the sanctity of human life and the traditional family."
"If these two can reach a settlement, anyone can," said Michael Kantaras' lawyer, Karen Doering of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, who also served as co-counsel in a 2002 three-week custody trial.
"This couple had as many complications as you'll ever see in a custody case, so I give a lot of credit to both sides for coming together and working toward a settlement," she said.
The Kantaras v. Kantaras child custody bench trial ended in an unprecedented ruling in favor of Michael Kantaras, who underwent surgery in 1987 to remove his breasts and ovaries and began taking hormones before he met and married his ex-wife, Linda, in 1989.
"Michael has always, for a lifetime, had a self-identity as a male," Pasco County Judge Gerard O'Brien wrote in an 809-page decision. "Chromosomes are only one factor in the determination of sex, and they do not overrule gender or self-identity, which is the true test or identifying mark of sex."
In 2004, the Florida Supreme Court reversed the ruling, upholding Forsythe's claim that the marriage was null and void because her ex-husband was still a woman and same-sex marriages are illegal in Florida.
The unanimous decision went further to establish the precedent that a marriage could not exist between two people of the same birth gender.
With the marriage dissolved and Michael Kantaras' right to assert parental authority placed in limbo, the case was remanded to trial court.
Faced with the prospect of another round of litigation, the couple taped a segment for "The Dr. Phil Show." After the taping, an on-air therapist encouraged the couple to undergo mediation with a family mediator from Fort Lauderdale-based Mediation Inc.
While both sides have cast the agreement as a victory for all involved, they clearly have different views of the case's legal implications.
"Florida joined Texas and Kansas in its decision to recognize gender reassignment as a medically valid procedure that enables transsexuals to live new lives in every which way except to allow them to get married," Doering said of the appeals court decision.
"Tens of thousands of transsexuals get married each year. The only time they end up in court is in disingenuous cases such as this one when the spouse knows their partner is a transsexual when they get married, but chooses to use it against them in divorce proceedings," she said.
Staver of Liberty Counsel, however, points to the appeals court ruling as verification of the definition of gender and marriage.
"The trial court established a precedent in which gender was ruled a product of one's mind that could change through a medical procedure," said Staver. "But when it was reversed, it was established that being a male or a female is still a matter of law for the legislature to decide."
Full coverage of Kantaras v. Kantaras case
Now, do I have this straight? Did Margo become Michael, or vice versa?
If I was one of those kids, as soon as I turned 18 I would tell the "Michael" to take a hike.
Yes, Margo "became" Michael.
Ok, now I'm completely confused. It sounds like Michael is really a female named Margo? In which case how can he have an ex-wife? Or are they just as confused as I am and Michael is really a man called Margo?
Like Larry the Cable Guy says: "I've got friends that are into sheep, but they don't have a parade about it every Friday".
Ok, got it now. Michael is really a woman.
Yep, apparently she grew a Durbin.
We've got this guy living in our town (population less than 2,000) that's decided to be transgendered. He's in his 50's, taking the hormones. Salt and pepper hair - clawing it's way out of the top of his blouses in the back - and everyone pretends not to notice. I can't help laughing at him.
He now goes by the name "Margo". I call him "Shim".
Lets revisit this non-traditional family in ten years or so. We can see how screwed up the kids are by then
O.K., trying VERY HARD to keep this appropriate for a family forum..
Alright, let's try this. To summarize your post: you have "no problem with homosexuality", with the unspeakable and unhealthy "ding a ling" activities that entails; you "disagree" with the demand by those whose entire lives center on such "ding a ling" activities to be "married", but you "understand"; but "count you out" when they take the next logical step and go surgical? I can't understand the logic of being perfectly accepting of self-abuse and self-abasement, but drawing the line at self-mutilation. It's all part of the same sickness. It's just too bad that the sick scum involved here had to drag children into the mix.
He/she had that surgery called addadicktomy.
I remember this story from a long time ago. I don't even have to look at the link because I'll never forget the details:
"Margo" never went all the way with the surgery. She is still a woman. Here's the kicker: She pretended to be a "man" to marry this other woman. So she pretends to be a man in order to adopt the woman's child, and the woman becomes artifically pregnant with Margo's brother's child, and Margo pretends to be the father of that one. (Confused yet?)
Then Margo CHEATED on the woman with... another woman, who was married to a man (a real one). That's when the first woman blew the whistle.
Question: How does your "adoption" of a child stand up in court if you lied about your identity? How does the marriage even stand up in court?
michael was a female called margo. he/she is now a post-op transexual of male appearance.
I saw some of that trial on court tv a few years ago. The woman he/she had an affair with was very pretty. But she was a total dingbat. And Margo did really look like a man.
I think the judge in this case deserves a standing ovulation.
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