Now if you want some interior design done, it might seem a stereotype but it’s also true that most of the best designers seem to be gay. So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise that plans for a monument to homosexual victims of the Nazis in Vienna have been shelved – because artists could not find the right colour for it.

Hans Kupelwieser had won a competition 2006 with plans for a 60×60 foot water basin full of pink-coloured water and the word “Que(e)r” written across it to be placed at Morzin square. Tasteful? Well that’s debatable for a start, but at least there weren’t any drapes or cushions to argue over.

But Social Democratic (SPÖ) cultural councillor Andreas Mailath-Pokorny (pictured) said the project had been called off because of a failure to find a colour suitable for daily use. “We really wanted it to become a reality.” There will be a new competition for a memorial so get designing, folks, but SPÖ city development councillor Rudolf Schicker’s office had said there are no concrete (groan) plans for the square’s renovation and none would be made “for the foreseeable future.”

Iain Dale was unavailable for comment.

Hat-tip: The ever bizarre Austrian Times