If you spend enough time on TikTok – or too much time, depending on who you ask – you might have come across people telling queer content creators to “go straight to Dagestan” or countless other variations.
Getting a handle on TikTok trends can be difficult, even for the chronically online. In one corner, you’ve got people playing with “white shampoo”, and in the next breath, you’re watching people doing gravelly renditions of Bette Davis Eyes. It’s a lot.
Much like the holy airball trend, Dagestan on TikTok might go completely unnoticed if you don’t understand the wider, and much darker, context. So here it is.
Credit: TikTok
Right, so what does Dagestan mean on TikTok?
Go to literally any gay, queer, or LGBTQ+ TikTok and I’m betting you’ll find at least one comment referencing Dagestan. But what does it mean?
Dagestan is a republic in the North Caucasus region of Russia that is notorious for its mistreatment of queer folks. Advocacy groups such as The North Caucasus SOS have documented the persecution on the ground, and it’s left relatively unchecked in a region already infamous for its treatment of queer people. According to the charity, LGBTQ+ people are routinely beaten, sexually assaulted, and imprisoned under false charges.
The region became more prolific when MMA fighter and Dagestan native Islam Makhachev recommended sending boys there to become men, suggesting: “If you want your son, high-level wrestling, send him two, three years to Dagestan and forget.”
Essentially, “send to Dagestan and forget”, and its many variations have become dog whistles for homophobic and transphobic people on TikTok. In fact, it’s not even just LGBTQ+ people they are targeting, instead writing it in the comments of anyone they deem not masculine enough.
@justsammorris Replying to @OliverV2
Referring to one Dagestan comment from a relatively normal guy on TikTok, gay content creator Sam explained: “He thinks that commenting on my page, that I should be sent somewhere to be tortured and potentially killed, is a normal thing to do.
“It’s time to start calling out this stuff.”
Casual homophobia, transphobia, and prejudice are nothing new in 2025, but people are getting way too comfortable online. It has to stop, and TikTok has to ban Dagestan comments once and for all.
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Featured image credit: TikTok
