Millions of people waving rainbow flags and wearing lavish Carnival costumes danced and cheered their way through South America's largest city on Sunday to celebrate gay pride and demand an end to homophobia and sexism. Loud and proud crowd: Scenes from Sunday's Pride Parade in Sao Paulo Gay men, lesbians and cross-dressers paraded down the skyscraper-lined Avenida Paulista, Sao Paulo's financial heart, to the beat of loud music blasted off more than 20 sound trucks, reports the Associated Press. Organizers expected more than three million people at the 12th annual Sao Paulo Gay Pride Parade, which traditionally is one of the biggest in the world. Local authorities did not immediately give an estimate on the number of people attending the event, but said it was in the "millions". The parade caps a full week of attractions, including the Cultural Gay Fair, Gay Day and the International GLS Tourism Forum, the city's tourism department said. Last year, at least 3 million people packed the streets of Sao Paulo for what organizers said was the world's largest gay prideparade. On a visit last year to Brazil, the world's most populous Catholic country, Pope Benedict attracted fewer than one million when he spoke out against homosexuality and called for traditional family values to be reinforced.