IN MARCH 2007, Ray-Ban, the eyewear icon, told its consumers to “never hide.” On one of its global campaign posters, we see two men, one wearing Ray-Ban eyeglasses, walking hand-in-hand down a crowded New York City street. The setting is in the 1940s, back when male-to-male relationships were still taboo. Behind the couple are passersby, some with disapproving looks on their faces. It was as if it the glasses give the wearer extra power to be courageous and tell their secrets to the world without reservation.