Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar, a well-known feminist and secularist activist in Morocco, has been taken into custody after publishing a photo of herself wearing a T-shirt bearing the phrase “Allah is Lesbian.”
The 49-year-old psychologist posted the photo on her social media account on July 31, 2025. In her caption, she wrote:
“In Morocco, I walk around with T-shirts bearing messages against religions, Islam, etc. You tire us with your sanctimoniousness, your accusations. Yes, Islam, like any religious ideology, is fascist, phallocratic and misogynistic.”
The Public Prosecutor’s Office at the Rabat Court of First Instance issued a statement on August 10, 2025, confirming her arrest and placement under police custody. The statement said:
“Following a woman’s posting of a photo on her social media account, which depicts her wearing a shirt with phrases offensive to the divine, along with a caption insulting Islam, the public prosecutor ordered an investigation. Due to its urgency, the subject has been placed under police custody in accordance with the law.”
Lachgar reported that she received three consecutive days of online harassment following her post. On her Facebook page she wrote:
“I have been subjected to thousands of threats of rape, death, lynching and stoning. This is pure cyber-bullying.”
Among the comments was one from an account calling itself @moufarrid, which read:
“Our country is in danger; this woman named Ibtissame Lachgar is currently free. She was born in Rabat and currently lives in Morocco. She is a feminist activist, anti-royalist, pro-secularism, and openly Islamophobic. Her freedom is an insult to all Moroccans.”
Morocco’s Law
Morocco’s 2002 press law prohibits criticism of Islam, the monarchy or the country’s territorial integrity. Violations may result in prison terms and financial penalties.
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Under Article 220 of the Penal Code, “anyone who employs incitements to shake the faith of a Muslim” faces three to six months in prison and a fine of 115 to 575 Moroccan dirhams (£9.46 to £47.29).
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Wider charges of insulting Islam can lead to sentences of up to five years.
Similar cases have been prosecuted before. In 2007, editor Driss Ksikes and journalist Sanaa al-Aji received suspended three-year sentences and fines of $8,000 each for publishing an article on religious jokes in the magazine Nichane.
Past activism
Lachgar has a long record of activism for individual rights in Morocco.
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In 2012, she invited the Dutch group Women on Waves to dock their abortion boat in Moroccan waters as a protest against anti-abortion laws.
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In 2013, she helped organize a public “kiss-in” in Rabat after three teenagers were arrested for posting a photograph of themselves kissing on Facebook.
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She is also a co-founder of the Mouvement Alternatif pour les Libertés Individuelles (MALI), which campaigns for women’s rights, LGBTQ+ equality and secular freedoms.
As of Thursday, August 14, 2025, Lachgar remains in pre-trial detention in Rabat. Her trial has been postponed. If convicted, she could face several months to five years in prison, along with financial penalties.
