Sometimes we see bad things happening somewhere else and think they don’t have much of a connection with our lives.

We might, for a moment, note such news stories and then move on, glad that we’re not caught in whatever misfortune the story was about.

Perhaps we reacted that way to the bad news from Michigan detailed in this week’s issue of our newspaper. In our neighboring state, the story explains, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled May 7 that a constitutional ban on gay and lesbian marriages also outlaws domestic partner benefits provided by state universities and government agencies.

The constitutional amendment approved by Michigan voters in 2004 says a heterosexual marriage—the union between a man and woman—is the only agreement recognized as a marriage “or similar union for any purpose.” That language, the judges said, outlaws legal recognition of any kind for domestic partnerships, civil unions or anything that doesn’t conform to the amendment’s “one man, one woman” stricture for state-recognized couples.

Back when Michigan voters were considering this ban, backers scoffed at opponents who suggested courts might issue just such a ruling. Oh, no—the amendment is only aimed at protecting marriage as a heterosexual institution, they told voters.

That doesn’t matter, the judges said last week.

“The role of this Court is not to determine who said what about the amendment before it was ratified, or to speculate about how these statements may have influenced voters,” the judges wrote in their ruling.

Some 27 states have passed similar bans, mostly since 2004.

To most gay and lesbian Chicagoans, the news from Michigan probably didn’t hit home very deeply. But all of us should have taken a deep breath and realized just how close we’ve come to being in the same boat. Anti-gay groups here in Illinois have tried mightily in recent years to pass the same kind of constitutional ban that Michigan approved four years ago.

But here in the Land of Lincoln those anti-gay forces have failed. In fact, they failed in another try just two weeks ago. It’s no accident, it’s not luck and it’s not just because we live in a “Blue State.”

They’ve failed because some in our community have been vigilant and have fought smart, well-conceived campaigns to make sure that a constitutional ban against gay and lesbian unions hasn’t become law in Illinois.

Think about it—in the face of the money, numbers and media clout of anti-gay behemoths such as Focus on the Family and the American Family Association, grassroots groups in Illinois have stood up and stopped an onslaught that succeeded in a majority of states.

So, thinking about the news from Michigan, maybe we should do more than just breathe a sigh of relief. Maybe we should let these groups know that we appreciate their efforts by sending them a donation, a letter of support or an offer to volunteer a few hours.

Chief among those groups is our statewide GLBT advocacy organization, Equality Illinois, which has maneuvered, often very much under the radar, to keep a constitutional ban on gay marriage from ever seeing the light of day in the Illinois Legislature.

Equality also took the lead in organizing FAIR Illinois two years ago to turn back the most serious anti-gay marriage ban campaign. Together they worked with Lambda Legal, PFLAG Illinois chapters, the Gay Liberation Network and the ACLU of Illinois to stop that effort in its tracks. And those groups have continued their vigilance on our behalf to this day.

When we think of heroes, often we think of guys in capes who dash in at the last second to prevent a catastrophe. In this case, though, the heroes have been working without a lot of fanfare to make sure that our community simply doesn’t lose ground. There hasn’t been a catastrophe or anything even close—well, no closer than Michigan, anyway. And we should all be grateful for that.