Canadian Gay Rights Group Egale Wants Ontario Coroner To Conduct Review Of Jamie Hubley Suicide, New York State PTA Angered That Anti-Gay Bullying Group Never Sought Permission To Use Organization’s Trademarked Name, Teachers To Receive New Anti-Bullying Training After Harassed Students Told To Look “Less Gay,” Gus Van Sant To Direct Taylor Lautner, Neil Patrick Harris And David Burtka Family Halloween Fun

A Canadian gay rights group wants Ontario's chief coroner to conduct a review of youth suicide after an openly gay 15-year-old Ottawa boy took his own life. The Canadian Press reports that Egale Canada calls the death of Jamie Hubley on October 14 deeply upsetting, saying he battled depression and endured bullying and vicious taunts in school. The group also points to the suicides of Jeanie Blanchette, 21, and Chantal Dube, 17, in Orangeville in 2010 and of 13-year-old Shaquille Wisdom in Ajax in 2007. Egale says suicide is the second leading cause of death among youth in Canada. It says studies have determined suicide rates among gay youth are four times higher than among other young people, and argues that a coroner's review should focus on the underlying causes of youth suicides, what can be done to prevent them, how support systems can be improved and how existing policies can be made better.

A New York group calling itself the first Parent-Teacher Association unit in the country dedicated to the needs of gay and lesbian youths is under fire from the president of the state PTA. The Associated Press is reporting that Maria Fletcher says permission was never granted to use the trademarked organization's moniker. She also expressed concerns that the gay group is focused too specifically on one constituency. It is scheduled to hold its first meeting Wednesday night on Long Island. An association of five nonprofits supports the Long Island Gay Parent Teacher Association. Its leader says he told state PTA officials in October, but never heard back. Fletcher says she first saw David Kilmnick's letter when a reporter gave her a copy Wednesday. She says the PTA will likely send him a strongly worded response about PTA approval procedures.

Teachers in Essex, England will receive new guidance on advising victims of homophobic bullying after it emerged pupils had been told to "act less gay.” The advice was referred to, as an anecdote, in a council document, although neither the school, or the teacher or the pupils involved were named. A report to be presented to Essex County Council's children and young people committee, tomorrow states that after carrying out research with pupils, the Young Essex Assembly found that youngsters often want teachers to be "more accepting" of differences in people. The report states, "Anecdotal evidence on the day of students being told to act less gay or to wear their hair differently as teachers felt they were making themselves a target for bullies was a current theme." The assembly is now working on an "information pack" to help trainee teachers deal with sensitive issues around bullying, when they are confided in by a pupil. An Essex County Council spokesperson said, “We takes bullying very seriously and would hope that all teachers are sensible in giving the right advice to pupils. The Young Essex Assembly held a conference to allow children to talk in an open and constructive environment about bullying within schools. All the information and anecdotal evidence gathered at the event will shape the work of the Young Essex Assembly; as a result they are developing an anti-bullying information pack which will be given to trainee teachers to help them understand and cope with the serious issue of bullying.” The fact that the advice to "act less gay" had been given in the first place provoked an angry reaction for equality campaigners. Colchester Labour Party chairman and a member of the Labour Campaign for Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgendered Rights, Jordan Newell, said: “I am incredibly shocked at this report. It is incredibly stark and paints a picture that teachers are holding up their hands and not defending pupils who are expressing their difference and they are failing to defend some pretty basic principles in terms of bullying and anti-bullying. I think the report shows a complete lack of understanding of the issue and on how to tackle bullies.”

Taylor Lautner intends to become an independent film star, according to The Hollywood Reporter. The Twilight actor, fresh from the disappointing performance of September’s action thriller Abduction, is about to move into art house territory, sources saying that Lautner is finalizing a deal to team with auteur director Gus Van Sant on a small-budget film based on a nonfiction article in The New Yorker magazine that Lautner has optioned. Details are still emerging about the project, but sources say an announcement is expected later this week revealing who is write the script for the Van Sant-helmed film. The aim is to shoot the film in the first quarter of next year. It is not yet clear if the script will be written by Dustin Lance Black. The move is purportedly an interesting one for the Twilight star, who has shown eagerness to capitalize on his burst of fame from the blockbuster teen fantasy series, the penultimate instalment of which, Breaking Dawn: Part I, hits theatres November 18.

Normally, the Neil Patrick Harris and David Burtka family is the paradigm of cuteness, but add Peter Pan-inspired costumes for Halloween, and cuteness is taken to a new, as-yet-unquantifiable level. And as an aside, Mr. Burtka’s arms – seriously sexy.