Homosexual interpretations of Batman

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Bruce Wayne and Dick Grayson in bed together

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From Justice League of America #44, published in 1966. Story by Gardner Fox, art by Mike Sekowsky.

In 1954, psycnologist Fredric Wertham's general assertion in his book Seduction of the Innocent was that readers would imitate crimes committed in comic books, and that these works would corrupt the morals of the youth. The most notorious charge in the book, however, was leveled at Batman, in a four-page polemic claiming that Batman and Robin were gay. "They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases, and have a butler," Wertham wrote. "It is like a wish dream of two homosexuals living together." What was more, Wertham asserted, "the Batman type of story may stimulate children to homosexual fantasies."

Wertham became aware of this alternative reading through his conversations with fans of Batman in the fifties, who brought the comic book to his attention as an example of the idealization of a "homosexual lifestyle." Burt Ward has also remarked upon this interpretation, in his autobiographical Boy Wonder: My Life in Tights noting that the relationship could be interpreted as a sexual one, with the show's double entendres and lavish camp also possibly offering ambiguous interpretation. This is despite the fact that the TV series was an attempt at a tamer version of Batman which tried to be less violent than the comic series — one of Wertham's arguments against comics.

Despite the lack of any concrete cause-and-effect link between reading comics and "deviance", these suggestions raised a public outcry during the 1950s, eventually leading to the establishment of the Comics Code Authority. It has also been suggested by scholars that the characters of Batwoman (in 1956) and Bat-Girl (in 1961) were introduced in part to refute the allegation that Batman and Robin were gay, and the stories took on a campier, lighter feel.

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Bat-girl, from Batman #144 (December 1961). Story by Bill Finger, art by Sheldon Moldoff.

However, commenting on homosexual interpretations of Batman, writer Alan Grant has stated that "the Batman I wrote for 13 years isn't gay. Denny O'Neil's Batman, Marv Wolfman's Batman, everybody's Batman all the way back to Bob Kane...none of them wrote him as a gay character. Only Joel Schumacher might have had an opposing view.", whilst Devin Grayson has commented "it depends who you ask, doesn't it? Since you're asking me, I'll say no, I don't think he is ... I certainly understand the gay readings, though."

While changing morals have made the issue less important today, popular culture and a number of artists continue to play off the homosexual connotation of their relationship, against the wishes of the publisher. One notable example occurred in 2000, when DC Comics refused to allow permission for the reprinting of four panels (from Batman issues 79, 92, 105 and 139) to illustrate Christopher York's paper All in the family: Homophobia and Batman Comics in the 1950s Another happened in the summer of 2005, when painter Mark Chamberlain displayed a number of watercolors depicting both Batman and Robin in suggestive poses. DC threatened both artist and gallery with legal action if they did not cease selling the works, and also demanded that all remaining art as well as any profits be handed over.

Most recently, George Clooney said in an interview with Barbara Walters that in Batman & Robin he played Batman as gay. "I was in a rubber suit and I had rubber nipples. I could have played Batman straight, but I made him gay."