INFO:

Scrolling through TikTok, you may have noticed a trend of people commenting ‘Dagestan’ on users’ videos. Many creators have begun calling out the fact that a lot of the time, the word is being commented on queer people’s posts, or specifically men who don’t conform to traditional ‘masculine’ stereotypes. Dagestan is a republic in the North Caucasus region in Russia, notorious for the violent persecution of LGBTQ+ people. The targeting of queer people in the area has been documented from crisis groups such as ‘The North Caucasus SOS’ who have reported instances where queer people have been physically @bused, unjustly detained and threatened with fabricated criminal charges. The region became a big talking point after MMA fighter and Dagestani native Islam Makhachev, recommended an interviewer send their son to Dagestan, saying: “If you want your son, high level wrestling, send him two, three year Dagestan and forget”. Users then began commenting this phrase on queer people’s videos, and some queer creators are now branding the trend as homophobic. After receiving the comment ‘Dagestan’ on one of his videos, one queer creator reacted to it and said “He thinks, commenting on my page, that I should be sent somewhere, where I would be tortured and potentially killed, is a normal thing to do”. Another branded it as a ‘dogwhistle for bigots.’ Have you seen this trend on TikTok, and what are your thoughts?