The bitter words of a woman spurned by her transsexual husband were again recited in a Florida courtroom Friday as the custody battle over their two children continued.

"So at any cost you got what I could and would never do for you, that was be a woman with a woman that was you," a lawyer representing the transsexual, Michael Kantaras, recited from a letter Linda Kantaras wrote in January 1999 after her husband left her for a close friend.

"Mr. Kantaras, was anything like that ever said to you during the marriage?" continued Collin Vause.

"No," answered Kantaras, shaking his head.

"It was not until after you filed the petition for divorce that Linda came up with this claim that you wanted to be with her as a woman?" the lawyer asked.

"Yes," Kantaras replied.

Linda Kantaras contends that she deserves custody of her children because Michael Kantaras does not have a penis and so was never actually her husband under a 1998 Florida law banning same-sex marriages.

With the focus on his sexual reassignment surgery and lifestyle as a transsexual, Michael Kantaras was forced to discuss many of the intimate details of his life during his four days on the stand in this Pasco County trial — including how the testosterone he takes can affect his moods, how he has sex, and even how he goes to the bathroom.

But what has developed into an all-out war over the couple's two children — 12-year-old Matthew and 10-year-old Irina — started out in 1989 as love at first sight.

"[Linda] said she did not want to have children and did not want to get married but the first thing she laid eyes on me that all changed," Kantaras testified Friday.

Then Linda Kantaras was four months pregnant and recently deserted by the biological father of her baby. Michael Kantaras, now 42, supported her through the pregnancy, married her, and soon after, adopted her newborn son, Matthew.

They later conceived Irina using sperm from Michael Kantaras' brother.

But, despite Kantaras' role in raising his children, his rights regarding them today and his ability to provide a good home have been repeatedly called into question.

Besides the potential strain on the children from Kantaras' nontraditional lifestyle, Linda Kantaras' attorney, Claudia Wheeler, has attacked the transsexual for leaving his wife for her best friend, Sherry Noodwang.

On Friday, Circuit Court Judge Gerard O'Brien asked Michael Kantaras how he would handle the animosity between the two women if he were awarded residential custody and Linda Kantaras were given visitation rights.

"You're contemplating marriage. That now thrusts Sherry into the picture as stepmother," O'Brien began. "So the picture has been complicated. How are you going to handle this problem? How are you going to handle this problem of thrusting Sherry into the face of Linda?"

"They were friends. A bad situation happened," Kantaras admitted. "I had feelings for Sherry, she had feelings for me, Sherry divorced her husband, Linda and I separated, Sherry and I started a relationship. It's a bad situation. We're both very sorry. But as far as doing what's right for the children, I know we can do that."

Kantaras also told the court his wife needs to adapt to the situation. "Do I believe Linda can change?" he asked rhetorically. "I hope and pray every day. It just seems like Linda is stuck in that one mode of anger."

The marriage plans of Kantaras and Noodwang also gave Ron Noodwang, Sherry Noodwang's ex-husband, cause to criticize the couple's current living conditions.

"I don't believe there's any supervision at this time," Noodwang testified. "She's not focusing as her parental skills should be... because a lot of these dilemmas are occurring with [our] girls that weren't occurring before." The Noodwangs have three daughters.

Noodwang also testified that the home he left to his wife after the divorce is now in disarray, with the garage ceiling in decay, the interior floors stripped to concrete, and balled up bags of dirty laundry scattered about.

To contrast the squalor of Sherry Noodwang's life, as described by her ex-husband, Wheeler used a series of witnesses who knew the Kantaras family before the June 1998 separation to paint Linda Kantaras as the ideal mother.

Each of the witnesses, who had observed the family in the household, at football games and at church, testified that Linda Kantaras was a good mother to her children and that they would have no concerns if the court were to award residential custody to the 33-year-old substitute teacher.

The women offered perspectives on the private lives of the Kantarases, including casual observations — such as Michael Kantaras' favorite show was the Jerry Springer show and Linda Kantaras is not a good cook — as well as more serious allegations.

Manuela Griffin testified with a thick German accent that Michael Kantaras was overly strict with his wife. "Michael had very much control of Linda," testified Griffin. "Linda was not allowed to drive with anybody. If I want to go somewhere I get in my car and leave, but Linda would always have to call Michael at work."

Griffin guessed that Kantaras' attitude was the result of his Greek religious background. "I guess the man is the man in the house and the woman is the woman," she posited.

"She didn't have to wear a burqa did she?" interjected Judge O'Brien, eliciting laughter from those in the courtroom.

On cross-examination, Griffin testified that she felt betrayed by both Michael and Linda Kantaras. "I had a right to know what Michael was before I put my daughter in their house to spend the night," she explained.

Two women who work with Linda Kantaras at a local before- and after-school care program for children testified that she was a good employee.

Testimony resumes Monday at 9:30 a.m. The trial is being televised live by Court TV.