Authorities in Austria have come under scrutiny after they reportedly rejected a gay asylum-seeker because he didn’t walk or dress “like a homosexual”.

The unnamed 18-year-old claimed he faced persecution in his native Afghanistan because of his sexuality.

But ayslum officials dismissed the claim because he did not conform to gay stereotypes, according to details leaked to the Austrian media.

“Neither your gait, your posture, nor your dress sense even come close to suggesting you are homosexual,” the regional asylum office in Wiener Neustadt wrote in an official rejection letter, according to Austria’s Falter magazine.

The official in charge of the case also suggested the man had “too few friends” to be homosexual.

“You do not have many friends according to the file. Aren’t homosexuals supposed to be more sociable?” he wrote.

The unnamed official said the fact the man had argued with other residents at an Austrian youth shelter was evidence of a “tendency to aggression you would not expect in a homosexual”.