2008 Florida Amendment 2

Florida previously had banned same-sex marriage on multiple occasions and upheld their decision on it through court. in 1977, Governor Reubin Askew signed a bill banning homosexuals from marrying and adoption.[1] In 1997, the "Defense of Marriage Act" was enacted by the Florida legislature which again codified that marriage was between a man and a woman and prevented the state from recognizing any same-sex marriages performed out of the state.[3] In 2005, the case Wilson v. Ake occurred at the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida in which a lesbian couple attempted to have their same-sex marriage from Massachusetts recognized. The case resulted in judge James S. Moody Jr. upholding the same-sex marriage ban.[4]

Activists with Equality Florida urging voters to oppose the amendment during the 2008 pride parade in Orlando

The amendment was proposed in an initiative by Florida4Marriage.[5] Although same-sex marriage had already banned same-sex marriage, some worried that a court case such as Wilson v. Ake could possibly overturn the same-sex marriage ban.[6] Proposed constitutional amendments in Florida require 611,009 signatures, including at least 8% of voters in the last presidential election and at least 8% of voters in each congressional district of Florida. The initiative would later pass and be certified with 649,346 signatures and was placed on the ballot in February 2008.[3] 60% of voters were required to pass the amendment in Florida.

Similar proposals were put to a vote at the same time in Arizona and California.

A Quinnipiac University Polling Institute poll on September 8, 2008, showed that 55% favored the proposed amendment, while 41% oppose it.[4]

Voting for the amendment began on November 4, 2008.

Amendment 2 added Article I Section 27 of the Florida constitution. This states:

Inasmuch as marriage is the legal union of only one man and one woman as husband and wife, no other legal union that is treated as marriage or the substantial equivalent thereof shall be valid or recognized.[7]

The amendment was ultimately passed by a margin of 61.9% in favor and 38.1% opposed.[8] In the Florida 2008 election, Barack Obama voters as a whole voted 57% against Amendment 2 while John McCain voters voted 81% in favor of the legislation. Republican Governor Charlie Crist publicly supported Amendment 2.[9]

Monroe County was the only county to have a majority of the voters reject the amendment by a margin of 1,580 votes.

Florida joined 27 other states that approved other same-sex marriage bans such as this.[10]

Amendment 2[11]

Choice	Votes	%
Yes	4,890,883	61.92
No	3,008,026	38.08
Valid votes	7,898,909	93.41
Invalid or blank votes	557,420	6.59
Total votes	8,456,329	100.00

Since the beginning of 2014, several couples and plaintiffs have sued the state of Florida over the amendment, as part of a larger, concentrated effort by gay rights activists and groups encouraged by the federal Supreme Court's decisions regarding marriage made the previous year. Multiple state lawsuits against the amendment have already been successful so far, succeeding in the amendment being struck down successively in Monroe, Miami-Dade, and Broward counties. On August 5, 2014, a Palm Beach County judge issued a ruling in a case pertaining to a surviving spouse's rights in a specific estate case which resulted in the union of a widow and her deceased wife as the first ever same-sex marriage officially recognized in Florida.

Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, a Republican up for reelection in 2014 considered vulnerable due to association with Governor Rick Scott, has been a staunch defender of the amendment in court. Critics have pointed to her two previous divorces as a cause for hypocrisy when compared to her statements about the sanctity of marriage. Bondi has appealed all state court rulings thus far, which, as required by Florida law, automatically stays the rulings until the beginning of the appeal process.

The rulings against the amendment have been welcome by gay rights groups, the activist gay community in southern Florida, both Democratic gubernatorial candidates, and it appears a majority of Floridians, as at least one recent poll by the conservative-leaning firm Quinnipiac now shows that 56% of likely voters now favor marriage equality, a near-total reversal since 2008.

Concurrently with the lawsuits and rulings, a governor's race took place in 2014 and both leading candidates had completely opposite views on the issue of marriage. Incumbent Governor Rick Scott was opposed to marriage equality. Former governor and Democratic primary candidate Charlie Crist, who has changed parties since 2008, now supported same-sex marriage and ran on a platform that included giving same-sex couples the right to marry.

• LGBT rights in Florida
• Same-sex marriage in Florida
• Recognition of same-sex unions in Florida

• Yes2Marriage.org (Amendment 2 proponents)
• SayNo2.com (Amendment 2 opponents)
• The Money Behind the 2008 Same-Sex Partnership Ballot Measures - The National Institute On Money In State Politics