Weaving Threads of Love: A Data-Driven Journey Through Humanity’s Spectrum of Sexual Orientation

The history of human sexual orientation isn’t just a timeline — it’s a living, breathing story of connection, resistance, transformation, and freedom. To understand it fully, we must go beyond static records and data points; we must embrace the humanity, the journeys, and the brave souls who dared to love and live authentically. As a writer and a data scientist, I’m drawn to the intersections where numbers meet narratives, where we quantify what’s unseen and give voice to what’s unsaid. Join me as we map this journey — a rich, data-driven exploration infused with the heartbeat of human experience.

The Ancient World: Myths and the Metrics of Love

When we look at ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt, love was intertwined with mythology, and same-sex relationships were far from being the anomaly. From the Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2100 BCE) to the tomb of Niankhkhnum and Khnumhotep in Egypt (c. 2380 BCE), we see the earliest known depictions of deep, affectionate bonds. Data might reduce these to instances, but context turns them into narratives where love was both sacred and fluid.

In Ancient Greece (c. 800–146 BCE), pederasty — relationships between adult men and younger males — was seen as part of mentorship…