Independent senator Lidia Thorpe made her position on cops at Mardi Gras crystal clear on Saturday night.

The Djab Wurrung Gunnai Gunditjmara senator laid down in front of a float, briefly halting the procession before being removed by police.

The senator got to her feet and spoke with officers and organisers and was escorted away by police, but no further action was taken.

Senator Thorpe could be heard calling out "f**k the police" before taking the protest action.

Debate over the presence of uniformed police officers at Pride marches and Mardi Gras has been long-running.

Many have noted the long history of police repression of the LGBT community, including police brutality targeting organisers and advocates, in Australia and elsewhere.

In New South Wales in particular, the police force gained further notoriety over its failure to properly investigate a string of suspected homophobic murders in the 1970s, '80s and 'early '90s.

The original Stonewall protests in the United States, a foundational event in the gay liberation movement, were sparked when police violently raided the Stonewall Inn in Manhattan in 1969. On the first anniversary of that event, the first Pride marches were held in four major US cities.

NSW Police said Senator Thorpe was removed by parade organisers for "breaching the terms of her participation".

On Sunday morning the Victorian senator noted that the first Pride was a protest against police violence.