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Security Beefed Up For First-Ever OC Gay Pride Parade

SANTA ANA (CBSLA.com/AP) — Organizers of Orange County's first-ever gay pride parade stepped up security Saturday in the wake of the Orlando shooting.

Without going into details, Santa Ana Cpl. Anthony Bertagna said an increased police presence was planned along the parade route starting at 11 a.m. at Main Street between Washington and First streets in downtown Santa Ana.

The "Live Your Life"-themed parade comes amid stepped-up security surrounding San Francisco's LGBT pride celebration, which has caused two honorary grand marshals and a health clinic that serves sex workers to withdraw from the event's signature parade.

The executive director of the Transgender, Gender Variant, and Intersex Justice Project, Black Lives Matter and the St. James Infirmary said Friday that they are pulling out of Sunday's parade to protest the heavy police presence and metal detectors that will be present weekend.

The security measures were put in place following the massacre of 49 people at a gay nightclub in Orlando two weeks ago.

TGI Justice Project Executive Director Janetta Johnson says the measures make LGBT people who have been mistreated by police feel less safe and are at odds with the parade's theme, which is "For Racial and Economic Justice."

(TM and © Copyright 2016 CBS Local Media, a division of CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2016 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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