She faces up to five years in prison. Moroccan prosecutors charged her for posting an image of herself on X at the end of July wearing a T-shirt with the words "Allah is lesbian." Ibtissame Lachgar was scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday, August 27, for the first day of her trial, facing charges of "insulting the Islamic religion." A prominent Moroccan activist nicknamed "Betty," Lachgar was arrested on August 10 and placed in preventive detention until her hearing. Her supporters called the decision "disgraceful," especially after the court denied her request for release despite her fragile health – Lachgar is a cancer survivor. Since then, her supporters have rallied in Morocco and France. The feminist group Les Chiennes de Garde ("The female watchdogs") and the editorial team of the French satirical journal Charlie Hebdo have taken up her cause.

With her shaved head, Lachgar bears a slight resemblance to Sinéad O'Connor, the Irish singer who caused a scandal when she tore up a photo of Pope John Paul II live on American television to protest sexual abuse in the Catholic Church. Like O'Connor, Lachgar, a psychologist by training, has not minced words when speaking about religions, which she considers "patriarchal and misogynistic." Defining herself as an "atheist" in a country that does not recognize freedom of conscience, Lachgar launched the Alternative Movement for the Defense of Individual Liberties in 2009. Advocating "universalist and secular feminism," the group has made women's and LGBTQ+ rights central to its demands. It campaigns for the decriminalization of abortion, same-sex relationships, and sex outside of marriage, all of which remain banned or strictly regulated under Morocco's penal code.

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