error.py

class MyTable(...):
  __tablename__ = 'my_table'
  id = ...
  unicode_col = Column(UnicodeText())
  
# (insert some rows into my_table)
assert type(session.query(MyTable).first()) == unicode  # NOPE!


### workaround ###

class CoercedUTF8UnicodeText(types.TypeDecorator):
    impl = UnicodeText

    def process_result_value(self, value, dialect):
        if isinstance(value, str):
            return value.decode('UTF-8')
        return value

(it's a str)