What makes a man? A transgendered man fights for custody of his children after his wife contends he's not male. Meanwhile, Court TV's coverage has viewers nationwide debating gender rights. (Law).

When Michael Kantams, who was born Margo, found out he could have sex-reassignment surgery, he was ecstatic "because I could finally be me." When he completed that surgery in 1987, his doctors assured him that he was "now regarded medically, legally, and socially as a male."

Kantaras, 42, soon married and became a father of two: an adopted son and a daughter conceived using his brother's sperm. But Kantaras found his hard-won identity--his maleness, his fight to marry, and his fatherhood--under attack in a trial televised nationally by Court TV from Clearwater, Fla., in January and February. Although his wife, Linda Kantaras, 33, knew her husband was transgendered before their 1989 marriage and lived with him until they separated in 1998, she now argues that Michael Kantams is not a man. Her reason: He never had a phalloplasty to construct a penis. Their marriage, she contends, should be annulled, since Florida bans same-sex marriage, and the adoption declared invalid. She seeks custody of both children, with Michael Kantams barred from their lives.

Circuit court judge Gerard O'Brien will likely rule this spring, with the losing side expected to appeal. The case will set precedent for Florida, where no court has defined gender or decided if a transsexual is legally the postoperative gender. It's among the few cases nationally "that's been litigated on the issue of whether a transsexual is able to legally marry," says Shannon Minter of the National Center for Lesbian Rights, a co-counsel for Michael Kantaras.

It's also the first case to televise these issues in a way that goes beyond sound bites, according to Cathy Renna of the Gay and Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation. "This case provided an opportunity for Court TV's audience to better understand transgender lives and issues," says Renna, who praises the cable channel for including comments from transgender activists in its coverage. "It's no longer people talking about transgenders like they're specimens in a jar. These are actual transgender people talking about ... their lives."

Marlene Dann, Court TV's senior vice president for daytime programming, says the channel covered the trial because "the issue was very important." Court TV has 69 million subscribers, she says, with an average of 140,000 households tuned in at any point during court proceedings. Viewers did not react negatively on Web site message boards. "The controversy is not that we're airing it," Dann says. "They are arguing the issues."

Michael Kantaras, a balding, mustachioed bakery manager, presented an appealing image to those watching the proceedings. He told the court how he always felt male despite his female body and how, at age 25, he first contacted the Rosenberg Clinic in Galveston, Tex. After health experts determined he was eligible, Kantaras entered the rigorous sex-reassignment process: living in his desired male gender, receiving hormone therapy, and undergoing two major surgeries--construction of a male chest and a hysterectomy to remove his ovaries and uterus.

Like most female-to-male transsexuals, Kantaras decided against phalloplasty, because a constructed penis can create urinary problems, lacks sexual sensation, and cannot independently become erect. Linda Kantaras's lawyer, Claudia Wheeler, used that decision in an effort to prove Michael Kantaras could not have sex "the normal way" and is not a man. But he said he frequently had "missionary position" sex with his wife, using what he calls his penis and what his lawyers call a "microphallus," which is created by enlarging the clitoris through hormone therapy. Medical and psychological experts testified that Kantams functions as a man in every other way.

Wheeler's argument regarding Kantaras's penis should not hold up in court, says Lynne Gold-Bikin, a former chair of the American Bar Association's family law section, who is not involved in the case. "If they judge manliness on the size of the penis, I've got a couple of people that ought not to be in the men's room," she quips.

Linda Kantaras, bitter because Michael became romantically involved with one of her best friends, is asking the court that the marriage be annulled and that Michael be ordered to pay alimony. Again, Gold-Bikin balks at the request. "Either you're married to the guy and you get alimony, or you're not married ... and you get nada," she says.

However O'Brien rules, Minter says the coverage on Court TV has given transgendered people heightened, sympathetic visibility--especially by broadcasting testimony like that of Michael Kantams's mother. "I'm blessed with a young man who has compassion, honor, integrity," 75-year-old Irene Kantaras told the court. "He's never given us a day to doubt who he is."

Freiberg also has written for The Washington Blade.