Same-sex couples in Costa Rica will have the right to get married by mid-2020, the nation's constitutional court has ruled, a first for socially conservative Central America.

In a majority decision made public on Thursday, the court backed the judgment issued in January by the Inter-American Human Rights Court, which said that countries in the region should legalize same-sex unions.

Costa Rica is a majority Roman Catholic country and a number of lawmakers on the legislative assembly oppose gay marriage.

According to a survey released in January by the CIEP think tank of the University of Costa Rica, barely 30 percent of Costa Ricans favored same-sex marriage.

During this year's general election, same-sex marriage was a major campaigning point.

Costa Rica's President Alvarado Quesada, who took office in May, decisively defeated an evangelical pastor opponent in the campaign by promising to allow gay marriage and protect the country's reputation for tolerance.

After the ruling came out on Thursday, Alvarado Quesada tweeted, "it's now just a matter of time. Full equal rights will come, love will prevail." He called for the country to modify regulations so as to comply with the court ruling.

Legal reforms to implement the law should be carried out smoothly, since the debate on whether same-sex marriage is legal had been settled, said lawmaker Enrique Sanchez, an advocate for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender rights. 

The ruling also received pushback. In a statement published after the ruling, the Catholic Church's Episcopal Conference of Costa Rica said, "In the natural order of things, that basic family nucleus of society is based on monogamous and heterosexual marriage."

(Source: Reuters)