More than forty groups on Friday delivered to Venezuelan lawmakers a proposal to legalize gay marriage in the Latin American country.

A petition with more than 20,000 signatures accompanied the project.

“Not only are we here to present a project, for the first time people who do not belong to any political party are united under a single idea,” Hanays Montaner, president of the Human Sunrise Foundation, told EFE.

Dozens of activists joined in a rally outside the headquarters of the National Assembly. At the conclusion of the demonstration, a government committee was presented with the project.

Giovanni Piermattei, president of the Asociacion Civil Venezuela Igualitaria (Equal Venezuela Civil Association), told reporters that supporters are optimistic about passage. The group has previously said that four lawmakers signed their petition in support of marriage equality.