Gotham City superhero, Batman, is gay, according to Hollywood superstar George Clooney.

The actor who was being interviewed on an American Oscar show, replied to host Barbara Walters’ who asked if he would ever play a gay cowboy. Mr Clooney said he believed he had already played a gay character, “I was in a rubber suit and I had rubber nipples. I could have played Batman straight, but I made him gay.”

Fans have debated for years on the sexuality of Bruce Wayne’s alter ego. The oscar nominee played the caped crusader in 1997 film Batman Robin, directed by Joel Schumacher.

Mr Schumacher has previously been praised by gay groups for giving Clooney and Batman Forever star Val Kilmer pert nipples, tighter buttocks and an extended inflatable codpiece.

Question’s over Batman’s sexuality started in 1954, according to the Daily Star, when psychiatrist Fredric Wertham said Batman’s close friendship with Dick Grayson, Robin, was sexual. Mr Wertham said: “Sometimes they are shown on a couch, Bruce reclining and Dick sitting next to him, jacket off, collar open, and his hand on his friend’s arm. “Robin is buoyant with energy and devoted to nothing on earth or interplanetary space as much as to Bruce Wayne.”

“They live in sumptuous quarters, with beautiful flowers in large vases.”