Moroccan LGBTQ Activist Sentenced to Jail for Blasphemy
A judge sentenced activist Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar to 30 months in prison for posting a photo of a T-shirt reading “Allah is lesbian.”
A Moroccan court sentenced prominent feminist and LGBTQ activist Ibtissame “Betty” Lachgar to two-and-a-half years in prison and fined her $5,000 for “blasphemy,” ruling that she violated the country’s criminal code against offending Islam or the monarchy by posting a photo of herself on social media wearing a shirt reading “Allah is lesbian.”
In the caption, Lachgar 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.”
At trial, Lachgar, appearing in court wearing a headscarf, told the judge she had no intention of offending Islam, insisting the T-shirt was a political statement using a long-standing slogan against sexism and violence toward women. Her lawyers argued the act was protected by Morocco’s constitutional right to freedom of expression, according to the Associated Press.
“God is not only for Muslims, but also for Christians and Jews. I don’t see any offense to Islam in that publication,” argued her lawyer, Naima El Guellaf. “I am Muslim myself, and I don’t feel offended by it.”
Souad Brahma, head of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights, warned of a human rights backslide and argued that Lachgar’s comments addressed religions broadly, not Islam specifically.
Her attorneys told the Associated Press they plan to appeal the conviction.
“This verdict is not only unjust, but it also threatens freedom of speech and opinion,” said Hamid Sikouk of the Moroccan Association of Human Rights.
Lachgar, 50, is a psychologist and co-founder of the Alternative Movement for Individual Freedoms. She has been an outspoken advocate for women’s rights, abortion rights, separation of church and state, and LGBTQ rights, and has campaigned to decriminalize sex outside of marriage, which remains illegal in Morocco.
As an activist, Lachgar has long organized demonstrations against what she views as human rights violations. In 2009, she and fellow activists attempted a public “Ramadan picnic” to challenge laws banning breaking the fast in public. Three years later, in 2012, she invited the Dutch group Women on Waves to dock in Morocco to promote safe access to abortion services, prompting the country’s Navy to block the ship.
In 2013, Lachgar staged a “kiss-in” outside parliament in Rabat to protest the arrests of two teens who posted a photo of themselves kissing on Facebook. In 2016, she was detained for two days after confronting a street vendor who forced children to work at night. She later alleged she was sexually assaulted while in custody.
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