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​As the annual St. Patrick's Day Parade marches up Fifth Avenue today, an annual protest will take place. The group Irish Queers will call out the NYPD's participation in the event, which they say on their website "was redesigned so that anti-gay bigots could parade using the church's special right to discriminate." Protests have been occurring for 21 years, however, Irish Queers member Emmaia Gelman said that now her group is not fighting against parade organizer's right to exclude openly gay and lesbian people from participating. "This protest about not allowing them to have it both ways," she told Runnin' Scared. "It's can't be both a religious anti-gay procession and include all the public servants."

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via @StephChuang

​Chaos broke out in Oakland Saturday, after Occupy protesters tried to take over the vacant Henry J. Kaiser Convention Center, in what they called "Move-in Day," a plan to turn a vacant building "social center, convergence center and headquarters." Hundreds of people were arrested, and three police officers were injured. (The New York Times and Reuters say the arrest count is around 200; The Associated Press via the New York Daily News says 300.) Police used tear gas and bean bag projectiles in the clash. Oakland wasn't the only stage for Occupy protests, though. In Washington D.C. protesters rallied outside the Alfalfa Club dinner, where President Barack Obama was in attendance. Williamsburg had it's own Occupy action last night as well. More on that later from Runnin' Scared's Leah Greenbaum. [NYT, Reuters, AP, ABC]

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Esther Zuckerman

Christine Quinn

​At this year's Pride March the Lesbian & Gay Big Apple Corps added a surprise number, trombone player Jeff Nordahl told us before the parade started: a "wedding medley." Right after the purple and white clad band marched away from their station between Madison and 5th Avenues on 40th Street to begin their part of the parade a woman stopped us. She had noticed.

"The band that just took off, they were doing the 'Wedding March,' it was just so touching," said Janet Green, who was heading down 5th Ave. with Continuum Health Partners.

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C.S. Muncy

​Today's Pride parade starts today at noon. After the state's passing of gay marriage, this one should be big. We will be in our usual Sunday position -- blogging -- but grab a rainbow flag and a flask and get out there. There are oiled-up gyrating men to ogle! The march starts at 36th and 5th and wends its way down to Christopher and Greenwich Streets. The Voice will be hanging out at the end of the route, so drop by for some contests and prizes! More info here.

[@_rosiegray]

​Charlie Brown will have a few new friends to hang out with as he floats down Sixth Avenue this Thanksgiving. Macy's has announced the lineup for this year's parade, which will include performances by Kanye West, Jessica Simpson, and Gladys Knight, helium-filled versions of Po from Kung-Fu Panda and the Kool-Aid Man (huh?), and a new Dora the Explorer float.

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