An 18-year-old from Afghanistan was denied asylum in Austria over doubts about his declared sexual orientation, according to the Austrian magazine Falter.
The “evidence” for the official’s decision was their judgment that he didn’t “act” or “dress” like a gay man.
“The way you walk, act and dress does not show even in the slightest that you could be homosexual,” the official reportedly wrote.
Based on this expert opinion, the Austrian official denied the application as he felt there was no reason for the young Afghan to fear for his personal safety in his home country.
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The magazine reports that the Afghan now plans to appeal the decision.
He arrived in Austria from Afghanistan in 2016 and was assigned to the SOS Children Village refugee camp. His initial asylum application cited the fact that he was part of the persecuted Hazara community, then later appealed on the grounds of sexual orientation.
The Austrian official saw the Afhan’s behavior at odds with his stated orientation, and reasoned that because he’d been involved in a fight at the refugee center, he had a “potential for aggression” that “wouldn’t be accepted from a homosexual.”
The young man was also observed to not have a large friend group, opting to spend time alone or in smaller circles. “Aren’t homosexuals rather social?” the official asked in the report.
In the asylum interview, the young man was asked when he knew he was gay; he responded he was 12. The official noted that this was “rather early” and likely false as “there is no public sexual stimulation through fashion and advertisement” in Afghanistan.
“Asylum-seekers must substantiate their reasons for fleeing. There are no concrete rules of proof, but the authorities must show if and why a claim was found to have been substantiated,” the Austrian Interior Ministry said in a statement.
This is not the first instance of an official denying asylum over doubts the applicant is actually gay. A recent European Court of Justice ruling found it unacceptable that a Hungarian official subjected a Nigerian asylum-seeker to psychological testing to prove his sexual orientation.
“The performance of such a test amounts to a disproportionate interference in the private life of the asylum-seeker,” the judge said.
Homosexuality is illegal in Afghanistan under Sharia law, carrying punishment as severe as execution.
DCguy
Ok, the official needs to be fired.
theafricanwiththemouth
ASAP!!!
Vince
If there’s any asylum for dip shits I’ll grant this official full asylum. He more then demonstrated his need.
Hussain-TheCanadian
WTF @ “Aren’t homosexuals rather social?”
Also how do gay men walk exactly? Are we all supposed to be gliding or skipping?
Shouldn’t an official in immigration be more knowledgeable than this?
Sam6969
“Also how do gay men walk exactly? Are we all supposed to be gliding or skipping?”
You know how we walk!^^
and here is the Gay American walk^^
MacAdvisor
“Also how do gay men walk exactly?”
According to The Birdcage, we walk like John Wayne:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmO1R-GqD50
dean089
Unfortunately the gay community itself often promotes and/or encourages these stereotypes.
Paco
What are you talking about? The gay “community” promotes all types of gay archetypes. From youthful hairless twinks, to burly, hairy macho men.
So just stop.
Kevan1
dean089 excuse me do you not mean the gay community does not shun these behaveours. Last I checked most of us accept all types of gay personas. I know guys who are butch, who are girly, for lack of better word, and guys who do not seem to be butch or girly. I believe most of us accept all types of gays who are, by the way, being who they are and not acting in a stereotypical way. Those “stereotypical” gay men are being there true selves instead of putting on some pseudo over masculine act like I see many straight men do. i find it a turn off when a straight man acts overly masculine because it shows me he is not comfortable in his own skin and that he is unsure of himself.
StraightnNarrow
A lot of the refugees and terrorists are pretending to be gay to gain access to the new country. This guy was caught doing to the same thing. We should trust the judgment of the official. Some bad guys are just not good liars.
JamJewel
And some good guys are good liars as well: my first LTR was a then married guy who got out of the army back in the day by claiming he was gay. His family thought it really hilarious not knowing that he actual WAS gay. Or that it was prevalent among the men in the family: my boyfriend’s two sons, his brother and his brother’s twin sons, to name just a few.
Rock-N-RollHS
and how do you know this, and how do you know that this is the case in this situation?
We should just trust the official? Because gov’t officials aren’t homophobic? God, spoken like a true Trump supporter.
he should be questioned by a gay psychologist. once they start talking about specific sexual acts and discussing his romantic and sexual history (when he knew he was gay, his first sexual encounters, etc) in an empathic way, they’ll determine whether he’s faking it.
Paco
I’m surprised they didn’t do the old bend over and spread’em test for gayness, too.
djmcgamester
Wow. Just, wow. I’d be denied entry, too, despite my long history of sex with men. This is one reason I hate stereotypes being shown as the only type of gay in most media. People get a distorted picture of how gays are just as diverse in manner and dress as straight people.
I know one of the most gorgeous and feminine woman who is gay. Her wife is more “stereotypical” – short hair, wears suits, etc. They’re both great people but one you’d peg as lesbian and one not so much.
Kangol
I feel bad for this young, and hope that this ruling can be reversed, because since he has publicly been identified himself as gay, he potentially faces a death sentence if he returns to Afghanistan, which is now completely spiraling out of control and into the Taliban’s hands, in part because of the current US administration’s inept policies. But I also feel bad for him because he chose the wrong European country to seek asylum; Austria currently is ruled by a right-wing coalition, and it’s probably one of the worst places right now for asylum seekers. A number of other EU countries would have been better options. Lastly, I would imagine many of us gay and bi commenters on here knew that we were gay or had same-sex feelings, especially by the age of 12.
Kangol
I feel bad for this young man….
msfrost
I knew I was trans when I was 3, I just didn’t have the words for it.
Jack Meoff
Since when is 12 to young to know that you are gay. I and many of my friends were aware of it from around that age or younger in some cases. This guy needs to get some training quick if he is going to be in a position to make these kind of judgement calls.
msfrost
I knew I was Trans, when I was 3.
Birdbrain1963
I’m gay, 55 and can barely walk. I don’t run around prancing like a sissy and I like my men to be real straight acting also. I enjoy doing things like hunting and fishing, but am no longer able too. Does that make me something else? If this boy was caught fighting, what was the reason? Why did he feel threatened enough to lash out? O yeah he’s probably gay and scared to death he will be sent back to a land where he will be murdered for being gay……….
Ssinsrig Ssindossa
Yeah, if I were coming from elsewhere, I would definitely be denied on those criteria. Being different and introverted led to a lack of significant social interaction.
I knew I liked boys like other boys liked girls as early as 8 though it wasn’t sexual until 13 or so. When I met my boyfriend I was dressing in the cheapest, most comfortable and least fashionable clothes I could and only wear otherwise because of him.
And aggression as a suggestion that he’s not gay? Wtf. It doesn’t take 5 min to find 10 stories of self hating bully’s who came out later. Or 10 sec to think that maybe aggression is a defense mechanism from being in a hostile environment.
sydboy007
So, what evidence is there that the teenager is really gay? Could he have been coached on what grounds he should seek asylum by NGO or volunteer staff? Maybe Eurodame was tired?
The left in Europe are strange. You have refugee centre staff getting raped then shunned when they report it. Others lie about the nationality of their rapists, write open letters on how sorry they are the person who raped them will likely be deported.
Persecute Christians and yazidi are the best likely to receive asylum. Salih Khater was given asylum just weeks before he committed a terror attack in London.
GayVeteranUSAF
This is a big problem. I’m a so called straight acting masculine dude… and it sucks because unlike my friends that appear, act, come across as gay and either don’t have to come out or come out once, those of us who fall into that “you’d never guess” collum have to come out daily, sometimes multiple times daily. It’s the worst feeling when people assume I’m straight and I have to yet again come out. I can see the expression change in their expectations. Fuck being masculine… I looks so much more fun and free not to be. But I am who I am.
ShavinMcCrotch
What kind of backwards-ass country is this???
If they don’t give him asylum, he may the first man ever exucuted for NOT being a stereotypical flaming queen.
When is the first shuttle to colonize Mars? I’m outta here.
ShavinMcCrotch
I did not just spell that exucuted.