A Schroth & Associates poll, conducted March 3 - 4, 2004, found 65% of Floridians opposed same-sex marriage, 27% supported of same-sex marriage and 8% didn't know or refused to answer, while 53% of Floridians supported civil unions, 39% opposed civil unions and 8% didn't know or refused to answer.

On November 4, 2008, polls closed in the entire State of Florida at 7 pm CT and according to election reports that late evening via the St. Petersburg Times, Amendment 2 had passed.

Florida joined California and Arizona, along with 26 previous states that approved other same-sex marriage bans such as this.

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.

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.

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.