The U.S. Supreme Court unexpectedly handed a major victory Monday to supporters of same-sex marriage by letting stand lower court rulings that had struck down bans in Wisconsin, Virginia, Indiana, Oklahoma and Utah.

The court's decision not to hear the gay marriage issue effectively shuts down legal challenges in 11 states and strengthens the likelihood that a majority of Americans soon will live in states where gay marriage is legal.

"I would not say this is the end of the struggle for gay marriage, but it is the beginning of the end," said Dale Carpenter, a University of Minnesota law professor and national expert on the issue. Considering that thousands more gay couples will get married as a result of Monday's court action, Carpenter said it would be that much more shocking if the Supreme Court later reversed course. Minnesota acted in 2013 to legalize such unions.

The response to the decision in Wisconsin was immediate. County clerks across the state — including several western counties bordering Minnesota — promptly started issuing marriage licenses to same-sex couples. The state's five-day waiting period means couples could wed as early as Friday.

Wisconsin's constitutional ban on gay marriage, enacted in 2006, was overturned by a federal judge in June. An appellate court stayed ruling until the Supreme Court weighed in.

"It's been on again off again on again, so it's been a bit of a roller-coaster," said Wanda Brown, 63, who married longtime partner Phyllis Goldin, 72, in Canada in 2004. The River Falls couple said the court's decision means they can stay in Wisconsin. They planned to celebrate their newly legal status Monday night at a performance of an LGBT chorus in St. Paul.

Nicole Pries, center, and Lindsey Oliver became one of the first same-sex couples to be married in Virginia on Monday.

Within hours of the decision, Wisconsin's Republican governor and attorney general surrendered in their battle to uphold the state's ban. Gov. Scott Walker publicly declared the fight over, and Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen, who led the defense of the '06 ban, urged county clerks to "respect the court's action."

Feeling safer

An Eau Claire couple, Carol Schumacher and Virginia Wolf, were lead plaintiffs in the federal lawsuit to overturn Wisconsin's ban. "It's been a long, long journey," said Schumacher, a retired city employee. "We both feel a little safer today."

Schumacher, 61, and Wolf, 75, a retired English professor, have been together 38 years. They married in Minneapolis last December. As of Monday, their marriage is now valid in Wisconsin.

Gay marriage activists were pleased with the Supreme Court's decision, but disappointed that justices refrained from tackling the issue in a definitive way that might have made gay marriage legal nationwide.

"This is not as sweeping as it could be or should be," said Marc Solomon, national campaign director for the pro-gay marriage group Freedom to Marry. Citing rising support for legal same-sex unions in national polls, Solomon argued that "the country is ready for it. Every day of denial means real harm for real families."

Few states illustrate the stunningly rapid cultural shift on gay marriage better than Minnesota.

In 2011, a GOP-controlled Legislature forwarded a constitutional gay-marriage ban to voters. Before Minnesota's vote on the amendment in November 2012, such bans had passed every time they came before voters around the country. At one point, 30 states had enacted such bans.

Minnesota, after a lengthy and high-profile campaign, became the first state to defeat such a ban. That emboldened DFLers newly in charge of state government to swiftly legalize gay marriage. In August 2013, Minnesota became the 12th state to allow it.

Pressing on

Autumn Leva, spokeswoman for the Minnesota Family Council, said despite the setbacks, gay marriage opponents are not ready to surrender.

"Those beliefs don't just change based on a political trend or a new law being passed," Leva said. "This is a very long cultural battle, and similar to the abortion issue, it will continue to play out for years."

Besides Minnesota, Wisconsin joins neighbors Iowa, Illinois and Canada in allowing same-sex couples to marry. But to Minnesota's west, gay marriage remains against the law in North and South Dakota.

"We're extremely optimistic about today's order," said Josh Newville, a Minneapolis attorney representing groups of same-sex couples in both Dakotas suing to overturn those bans.

The fastest way the issue could get back before the Supreme Court is if a federal appellate court were to uphold a state's gay marriage ban, which would create a conflict with the appellate rulings that the high court declined to reconsider on Monday.

"I think it's only a matter of time," said Peter Vandervort of Fargo. He and his partner of 29 years, Ronald Ramsay, are among the North Dakota plaintiffs. Vandervort, 63, said he's currently without health insurance because current North Dakota law prevents him from getting coverage through Ramsay's employer. Louisiana too, awaits a more definitive ruling. A judge there recently upheld that state's ban, and its law will be unaffected.

But in Wisconsin on Monday, it was all about the celebration. Deborah Monicken and Susan Kattas of Hudson, together 30 years, joked about their upcoming "shotgun wedding," as Kattas called it.

"It'll just be friends and family," Monicken said. Kattas quickly countered: "It'll be a huge wedding!"

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Patrick Condon • 651-925-5049

Maya Rao • 612-673-4210