Challenging “Tradition”

With its December issue, Unzipped magazine defies the view of traditional family with its in-your-face cover, a take on Norman Rockwell’s famous Saturday Evening Post work Freedom From Want. The portrait, which features a gay-for-pay star as Dad, a drag queen as Mom, and the adult industry’s only monogamous real-life couple, is as American as apple pie. Or good sex…or even the GOP!

For decades the right wing has criticized as unhealthy and un-American any notion of a family that didn’t fall into its own narrow-minded conservative definition. But that claim was turned on its head last November when the American people elected a mixed-race son of a single mother to become president of the United States.

“Yes, our December cover is a bit camp,” said Rick Andreoli, Executive Editor of Unzipped Media, “but the underlying themes are not. No one should dictate what consenting adults do in the privacy of their own homes, and certainly no one should be denied the privileges of marriage simply because they may not conform to a narrow-minded model of what a vocal minority feel is acceptable.”

December’s issue of Unzipped tackles stereotypes as straight man Chris Rockway divulges how he became a top-tier gay-for-pay porn star, the Jarics (Aden and Jordan) reminisce about their wedding day alongside loving and supporting family, and professional illusionist Shannel challenges everyone’s view of a drag performer’s life as she talks about the gay community’s own hang-ups with gender roles.

This portrait of the modern gay community is thought-provoking, complex, loaded with sexiness, and a far cry from the demonized, hell-bound portrait that the right wing paints on a daily basis. Americans are more than just one color, one creed, and one orientation. Unzipped celebrates the diversity of Americans and most especially American values that are oftentimes in direct opposition to what the right wing likes to call “family values.”

The December issue of Unzipped will be available at newsstands on November 24. For subscriptions or more information visit www.Unzipped.net