The man behind the campaign is Liang Wenhui, from the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies. Twenty two students helped Liang spend five and a half hours putting the letters in envelopes, addressing them, and posting them.

Last year Liang and his team sent 100 letters to Congress deputies asking for legal recognition of same-sex marriage and to guarantee equal rights. Having received no response, he thought it best to increase the number this year.

Liang claims that same-sex couples in China “have experienced a lot of discrimination when it comes to receiving medical and health services, social welfare, and rights related to the disposal of property, commercial insurance, hukou and the purchase of a home.”

Liang founded the Chinese Gay-Straight Alliance in 2011 which supports LGBT students in Guangzhou. He was profiled by the Nanfang Metropolis Daily that year as one of China’s most prominent gay activists.