I can’t speak for the others, but yes, I’ve known about Leonardo da Vinci’s possible homosexuality even before I played Assassin’s Creed II. Although he never left any writings explicitly detailing his sexuality, I find this comment of his very interesting: “The act of procreation and anything that has any relation to it is so disgusting that human beings would soon die out if there were no pretty faces and sensuous dispositions.” (Source here) It could mean that he was disgusted by the thought of heterosexual sex (hence he could be gay) or it could also mean that he was asexual.
Fandom will always have its own different interpretations of a character, for good or ill. And with Assassin’s Creed, some people may take issue when fans take a lot of liberties in re-interpreting historical figures. The way I view it is, at the end of the day we’re all nerds who love a video game and we all just want to have fun for a bit… and meet like-minded people along the way. 😎
~ Signora Paola