News Article:Sydney's streets were covered in every colour of the rainbow as the Gay and Lesbian Mardi Gras took off with the gay marriage theme dominating the parade on Saturday night.

In response to the "Say Something" campaign, at least 15 floats out of more than 100 chose to lobby for same-sex marriage including the Amnesty International and Labor Faces for Marriage Equality floats.

Brides and brides and grooms and grooms featured heavily in the parade in addition to cheerleaders, nuns, vampires and dancing Antoinettes.

There was a giant Julia Gillard dressed in a wedding dress and a giant Tony Abbott wearing a pair of speedos at the front of Australian Marriage Equality Now float, speaking to each other with speech bubbles.

Lisa Papallo and Katja Tempe, dressed as brides on the Marriage Equality float, said it was time to make gay marriage legal.

"People should be together that love each other and that's long overdue," Ms Tempe told AAP.

"We want to see our closest friends who love each other be able to get married."

Josh Lee from the Queer Students Network of NSW, who was dressed as Batman, said he was supporting the Say Something campaign.

"To students, this night also means marriage equality," he said.

Instead of a single chief of parade leading the march, this year several gay individuals who had the courage to "say something" and make a difference in gay people's lives were celebrated as heroes.

They included gay Hollywood actor Lily Tomlin, gay rights campaigner Peter Tatchell, and Hannah Williams and Savannah Supski, who protested against the ban against same-sex couples at Hannah's Melbourne school formal.

Thousands lined the streets the 34th annual parade, with revellers maintaining their enthusiasm despite the cold winds and sporadic rain.

Although official crowd numbers were not yet available, up to 300,000 spectators from Australia and overseas are expected to have turned out for the celebrations, which snaked up Oxford Street and into Flinders Street before finishing at Moore Park.

More than 1000 police were present to ensure everyone has not only a gay time, but also a safe time.

It is rumoured that pop superstar Rihanna make an appearance after her concert at Acer Arena.

Motorists are advised to look out for road closures in the Sydney CBD and along the parade route until 4am (AEDT) on Sunday.