Gay & Grey: Participatory Action Research in Hong Kong

This article examines how a research project transformed into participatory action research (PAR) whose outcome was a self-help group for older (60+) gay men in Hong Kong. The overall process witnessed a change in the level of participation by both the researcher and researched, as well as the social transformation of the participants and production of knowledge on Chinese homosexuality. Most importantly, the morph into PAR can be seen as a process whereby the participants took control and felt empowered. By bridging the gap between queer studies and PAR, this research rethinks three power issues embedded in the research process: the power relation between researcher and researched, that between participants and the major form of oppression in queer lives, i.e. heteronormativity, and the knowledge–power relation in the formulation of Chinese homosexuality.