Some 300 gay rights activists have gathered - holding hands, kissing and waving rainbow flags in front of Venezuela's parliament to present a petition for same-sex marriage.
The proposal, the latest after a half dozen previous attempts failed, aims to revise the legal definition of marriage to "the union of two people, regardless of sex," Venezuela Equal president Giovanni Piermattei told AFP.
"We have more than 21,000 signatures in support of the initiative," Piermattei said on Friday as he continued to collect names, adding they come from 47 organisations across the political spectrum.
"We have fulfilled the constitutional requirements" for requesting legal reforms, he said.
He is very optimistic the reform will go ahead.
Also present at the event were four parliamentarians and two governors from the ruling party, as well as two members of the government and the ombudsman.
But the law faces an uphill battle in Venezuela, where politicians use "gay" to insult opponents.
Gay rights activist Cesar Sequera, who says he is an Anglican priest, said he hopes the proposal will "at least be given serious debate."
But he noted that President Nicolas Maduro has twice used homophobic slurs to discredit his opponents.
Maduro later apologised, said Sequera.
"But I think that was not strong. I see fear and resistance in him."
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