Good morning, Her Campus! With a break-neck news cycle, there is no possible way for you to stay on top of every story that comes across your feeds—we’re all only human, after all.
But, life comes at you fast. So grab a cup of coffee and settle in for this quick and dirty guide to stories you might’ve been sleeping on (like, literally. It’s early.)
The Leader of Attorney General Sessions’ Church Has Condemned the Separation of Families at the Border
Well this is awkward… On Tuesday, Bishop Kenneth Carter, the president of the United Methodist Church’s Council of Bishops (and a major leader in the church Attorney General Jeff Sessions belongs to), publicly condemned the Trump administration’s practice of separating undocumented parents and children at the border.
“To disrupt or sever family relationships is incompatible with Scripture and Christian tradition,” Carter said in a statement to the Huffington Post. “And where the church has been silent in previous generations and cultures, or contributed to the separation of families, we have later understood our complicity and at our best have engaged in acts of repentance.”
Welp, if the literal thousands of Americans vocalizing their issues with the Trump administration’s so-called “zero tolerance immigration policy” can’t get Sessions to reconsider his views, maybe the leader of his own religion can?
More than 600 members of the United Methodist Church have issued a formal church complaint against AG Jeff Sessions, a fellow church member, charging that his “zero tolerance” policy on immigration violates church rules and may constitute child abuse https://t.co/nsvGOMmROu pic.twitter.com/7vIFGVm3Vr
— CNN (@CNN) June 20, 2018
Being Transgender Will Be Officially Removed From the WHO’s List of Mental Disorders
Just in time for Pride Month, the World Health Organization has announced it will no longer consider being transgender a mental health disorder in a newly-updated version of its International Statistical Classification of Diseases and Related Health Problems (ICD).
“It was taken out from mental health disorders because we had [a] better understanding that this was not actually a mental health condition, and leaving it there was causing stigma,” Dr. Lale Say, a coordinator of WHO’s adolescents and at-risk populations team, told the Huffington Post.
Homosexuality was also once on the WHO’s ICD, but was removed in the 1970s.
In the new International Classification of Diseases #ICD11, transgender is no longer considered a mental disorder, but is classified under sexual health conditions. This should reduce stigma and improve care.https://t.co/HxH0V4DqwU pic.twitter.com/vLcbEr1Ts0
— World Health Organization (WHO) (@WHO) June 18, 2018
This Absolutely Terrifying Plant Called Giant Hogweed Is Spreading Throughout the U.S.
An invasive species of plant called giant hogweed, which has been spotted in various states throughout the U.S, was spotted for the first time in Virginia last week — and even though something with a name like hogweed sounds like absolutely nothing to be afraid of, it’s *terrifying*.
According to experts at the Massey Herbarium at the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, about 30 plants were found in northern Virginia last week — and they can have massive consequences. As BuzzFeed News reports, the plant produces a toxic sap that, upon contact with skin and sunlight, can cause severe third-degree burns to the skin and permanent blindness if it touches your eyes.
Officials are warning Virginia residents (and residents of New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Wisconsin, Michigan, Oregon, and Washington, where the plant has previously been found) to not go near giant hogweed if they see it, and if accidentally exposed, to immediately wash the area with cold water, stay out of sunlight and consult a doctor.
Giant hogweed is spreading in the US.
The plant’s sap can cause blistering burns on the skin, long-lasting scars, and even permanent blindness.https://t.co/MmaNRUBgN2
— BuzzFeed News (@BuzzFeedNews) June 20, 2018
Meme of the day:
Is it Friday yet?!