Adelaide is full of rednecks.
At midnight, MJ was feeling upset and in need of a walk. We went out to find a coffee shop in Glenelg--the seaside resort area of Adelaide. There were dressed-up couples and groups of youthful friends walking the street, tiddly and having fun.
MJ started to cry and we sat for a while on a bench. I put an arm around her and held her hand. Passersby looked at us curiously. We didn't fit the mood of their evening. When she was calmer, we continued our walk, hand in hand.
There were no coffee shops open at midnight.
But we did find shocking provincial homophobia. At first, I noticed just a gesture: a dark-headed woman hung her head out the passenger window of a passing car and gave us a "hang loose" chaka. OK, whatever.
Then I started to hear people. "Lesbos!" Mutterings as we passed by. "Lesbians, go home." "Gay girls!"
Two men in a white hatchback threatened to beat us to death.
When some drunken kids on a hotel balcony demanded "Kiss! Kiss!" MJ ripped into them and they backed down.
We giggled all the way back to the hotel.
Yep, it is. Lots of small minded people who think they know everything in a city just small enough for many to think they have a stake in everyone else's business.
Thats not *all* it is of course, but there are times when big city anonymity/invisibility, and the reserve of Japanese people, are really appreciated.