Blind Morality

The House of Representatives acted insensitively and improperly last Thursday when it voted to stop funding the Library of Congress’ production of a Braille edition of Playboy magazine. The decision deprives blind library patrons of a source of entertainment and paves the way for other acts of censorship based on a congressional majority’s conception of morality.

The Library of Congress has offered a Braille edition of Playboy magazine at the request of blind readers since 1970 as part of the library’s 54-year-old National Program for the Blind and Physically Handicapped. By singling Playboy out of 36 magazines that the library translates into Braille, the House is telling blind people what they should and should not read. This censorship is also discriminatory, for the Library of Congress would still offer Playboy to patrons who can see.

Rep. Chalmers P. Wylie (R-Ohio) justified his appropriation-bill amendment to cut $103,000 allotted for Braille Playboy by saying, “I believe that promoting the reading of Playboy in this way does lead to undesirable activities.” That is the pious cant of born censors. Censorship and discrimination by Congress are activities much more undesirable and far-reaching than any inspired by Braille editions of Playboy.