There is a good thread on this here: https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/179fl4/from_a_laymans_perspective_the_relationship/

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I don't feel qualified to answer this in detail, however it was something interesting I was made to think about when studying The Epic Of Gilgamesh and read about previously so I will put a few thoughts here.

An important point is that the story of "The Epic of Gilgamesh" and other Sumerian poems, especially the parts concerning Enkidu, vary significantly depending on the text source. This is unsurprising given how long the stories were in popular circulation for.

Also, the concept of "gay" didnt exist then like it does today. We have limited knowledge of the Sumer civilisation however it seems they were fairly relaxed when it comes to sex. We know there was people who engaged in homosexual sex, for example references to priests called "assinu" meaning "womb-man". It should be noted it appears anal sex in general was not frowned upon (female priests also practiced anal sex to not get pregnant).

I would ask you to think of your question like this: think how different gay sex was viewed in greek times to now. Then remember the Sumer civilisation ended over 1000 years before the period commonly recognised as ancient Greece. Therefore, I think the way you postulate the question, "was he gay", is inappropriate as you are applying modern concepts to life thousands of years ago, to a totally different society.

So, I would argue the question you should ask is "did Gilgamesh engage in homosexual acts with Enkidu". This would make your question meaningful and explicit. To this I would then answer I have never seen a text where Enkidu and Gilgamesh are explicitly stated to have sex. Some texts do seem to imply a romantic relationship (to me in their English translation anyway - hardly accurate and definately not explicit), and some don't.

And even so, again, this is an ancient civilisation. What I, as a UK native reading in 2020 may view as implying homosexuality, may in that culture have been considered perfectly normal bonding between two males. Travelling to the Middle East and having to repeatedly kiss men and have my hand held by men opened my eyes to this. That would all be viewed as very gay in the UK.

In conclusion, my take when looking into this is that unless someone can reference an explicit statement of them being homosexual or engaging in sex together, it's all just speculation. I have read many preserved ancient texts in their english translations relating to Gilgamesh and never have found an unequivocal, explicit statement. (If anyone does know of a source that does explicitly state they are gay please let me know!)

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Further Reading:

I would read the penguins classic version of the Epic of Gilgamesh. It contains some other Sumerian poems and different versions of the Epic of Gilgamesh from older sources. This allows for a good starting comparison, before you look in more depth.

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(If anyone can reccomend more books on Sumerian literature/culture it would be appreciated!)

While gilgamesh did have more sex with women, i doubt he had sex with them bc he loved him. He only did it for carnal pleasure as for enkidu, he was shown to genuinely care for him.

Rimat ninsun, gilgamesh's mother, told him that he would love enkidu as a wife and their friendship was formed with a kiss. She also said that enkidu would be a match "for the storm in his heart".

Gilgamesh may have liked fucking women more but he loved enkidu and valued him more than a simple one night stand with the women of babylon.