Ibitissamme Lachgar, known as Betty, is a feminist, human rights activist, and ex-Muslim who for many years has been fighting against Islamic oppression of women, LGBT people, and atheists in her native Morocco. Earlier this month, she was arrested by Moroccan authorities for posting a photo of herself on X wearing a t-shirt that read ‘Allah is lesbian’. Her post also criticised Islam as ‘FASCIST’, ‘PHALLOCRATIC’, and ‘MISOGYNISTIC’. The Council of Ex-Muslims of Britain (CEMB) and the National Secular Society (NSS), among other organisations, have condemned the arrest and called for Lachgar’s release, as well as the repeal of Morocco’s theocratic blasphemy laws which criminalise those ‘who [offend] the Islamic religion’.
Find out more details about the case from the CEMB and the NSS here and here, respectively. The CEMB has launched a #FreeBetty campaign, which the Freethinker fully endorses and supports, and on 27 August, the CEMB held a #FreeBetty protest outside the Moroccan embassy in London.
As ever, the Freethinker stands in solidarity with those persecuted by oppressive religious codes.
#FreeBetty!
As an addendum, here’s a worrying thought. There is a continuing push in the UK to define and outlaw ‘Islamophobia’. If this push succeeds, will wearing such a t-shirt become a crime here, too? That is why we must stand in solidarity with Betty Lachgar and others like her. No ground should be given, anywhere, to the oppression of religion. Resist it everywhere.
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