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Moving Category:LGBT people from Ohio to Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 September 13#LGBT articles

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{{short description|American transgender man (born 1959)}}
'''Michael John Kantaras''' (born March 26, 1959) is an American [[trans man]] who was involved in a high-profile [[child custody case]] with his ex-wife.<ref name="canedy2003">Canedy, Dana (February 18, 2002). [https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9805E7DD1E3FF93BA25751C0A9649C8B63 Sex Change Complicates Battle Over Child Custody.] ''[[The New York Times]]''</ref> The case had implications for the legal status of transsexual marriages and the legal definitions of "man" and "woman."<ref name="robson2007">Robson, Ruthann (2007). A Mere Switch or a Fundamental Change? Theorizing Transgender Marriage. ''Hypatia'', Volume 22, Number 1, Winter 2007, pp. 58-70</ref>

==Background==

Kantaras was born in [[Youngstown, Ohio]]. In the late 1980s, Kantaras underwent hormone treatments and two surgeries at the Rosenberg Clinic in Texas to remove breasts, ovaries, and the uterus, but retained external female genitalia.<ref name="minai2001">Minai, Leanora (October 26, 2001 ). [http://www.sptimes.com/News/102601/TampaBay/Custody_case_tricky__.shtml Custody case tricky: He used to be she.] ''[[St. Petersburg Times]]''</ref> Kantaras married Linda Forsythe in a civil ceremony on July 18, 1989, in [[Holiday, Florida]]. Kantaras adopted Forsythe's child from a prior relationship, and Forsythe gave birth to a second child through artificial insemination in 1992.

Kantaras met another woman and filed for divorce in 1998, requesting primary custody of the children. The divorce was finalized in 1999.

Kantaras won his custody case in 2003,<ref>{{Cite news|title=Florida Court Issues Historic Marriage and Custody Decision for Transgender Dad|date=21 February 2003|work=NCLR and Equality Florida Press Release}}</ref> following a three-week hearing that featured medical experts who testified that Kantaras should be considered a man. Kantaras was represented by Collin Vause, an attorney for [[National Center for Lesbian Rights|the National Center for Lesbian Rights]]. Florida Circuit Court Judge Gerard O'Brien ruled that Kantaras was legally male and had a valid marriage.

However, the decision was reversed on appeal in 2004 by the [[Florida Second District Court of Appeal]]<ref>Kantaras v. Kantaras, 884 So. 2d 155 (Fla. Ct. App. 2004)</ref> which upheld Forsythe's claim that the marriage was null and void because her ex-husband was still a woman and [[same-sex marriage]]s were illegal in Florida.<ref name="case2003">''Michael J Kantaras v Linda Kantaras'' [2003] Case No. 98-5375CA. 511998DR005375xxxWS, 6th Circuit</ref> Review was denied by the [[Florida Supreme Court]].<ref>Kantaras v. Kantaras, 898 So. 2d 80 (Fla. 2005)</ref> The couple settled the case with joint custody of their teenage children in 2005.<ref name="grinberg2005">Emanuella Grinberg (June 16, 2005). [http://edition.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/16/ctv.transsexual.custody/index.html Settlement reached in transsexual custody case.] [[CNN]]</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
*[https://web.archive.org/web/20081017083124/http://www.courttv.com/trials/kantaras/ Transsexual Custody Battle] via Court TV

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kantaras, Michael}}
[[Category:1959 births]]
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Transgender law in the United States]]
[[Category:American transgender men]]
[[Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio]]
[[Category:People from Youngstown, Ohio]]
[[Category:Transgender marriage]]

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{{LGBT-bio-stub}}

Michael Kantaras - Revision history

imported>JJMC89 bot III: Moving :Category:LGBT people from Ohio to :Category:LGBTQ people from Ohio per Wikipedia:Categories for discussion/Log/2024 September 13#LGBT articles