Is equality seen as good or bad?

Equality per se is not the problem in "Harrison Bergeron"; it's how the government goes about achieving it. The government doesn't understand that some people are naturally more gifted than others. Some people like Harrison are excellent athletes; others, like his father George are intellectually gifted. This is a perfectly natural condition, one that should be celebrated as conducing to a genuinely diverse society.
But the government in this dystopian world doesn't see things like that. It regards natural differences as a threat to be obliterated by extreme measures. So in order to achieve equality, those more gifted are forced to wear handicaps. Sporty types like Harrison must wear heavy weights that slow them down; intelligent people such as George have to wear radios that emit loud noises which interfere with their ability to think. Harrison's good looks are also a no-no in this nightmarish world. A pair of unsightly glasses and black caps on his teeth make him a truly ungodly sight to behold, which is precisely what they're intended to do.
The methods that the government uses to achieve its perfectly noble aim are wholly invalid. Harrison's implacable resistance shows us that whatever artificial means the powers that be may use to create an equal society are ultimately bound to fail. The human spirit, though present in everyone, is not present in equal proportions. In the noblest of spirits, such as Harrison, there will always be that inner world that no amount of government action, however tyrannical, may touch. Formal, legal equality is both necessary and desirable; it is vitally important that everyone is treated equally before the law, for example. But substantive equality, the kind that Diana Moon Glampers wishes to enforce, is presented in the story as both impossible and morally wrong.

Throughout Vonnegut's short story, "total" equality is portrayed as a negative thing. In 2081, the US Constitution has been amended numerous times to create a society where each individual is mentally and physically equal through the use of various devices that distort and handicap talented and beautiful people.
Athletically gifted individuals are forced to wear heavy, cumbersome devices that restrict their mobility, while intelligent citizens wear earphones that create high-pitched piercing sounds that disrupt their thinking. Even beautiful citizens are forced to wear ugly masks that distort their appearance in order to make them physically equal to everyone else.
Vonnegut's story addresses equality in a unique way and challenges readers to celebrate our differences, rather than focus on artificial equality. While providing equal opportunities for every citizen is positive and appropriate, creating unfair advantages for less-qualified citizens by harming excessively talented individuals creates an issue. Vonnegut's short story takes aim at society's motivation to make everyone equal at the expense of talented, qualified, and intelligent citizens.