In Thursday’s TODAY Show interview, both girls’ families said they suspected that bullying may have been a factor, including bullying about weight issues. The families also said they suspected that Paige and Haylee may have had a romantic relationship and that ostracization may have played a role in their suicide pact.

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Reports of bullying-related suicides have been increasing in Minnesota and nationally. In the Anoka-Hennepin School District, north of Minneapolis, a fierce debate continues to rage between the parents of LGBT students and religious right-affiliated parents over how to handle LGBT issues in the district following a series of suicides where anti-LGBT bullying was suspected. Tammy Aaberg, the mother of Justin Aaberg, who took his own life last summer in Anoka, has been speaking out against anti-LGBT bullying and pushing for safe school programs locally and nationally.

And, an gay Alexandria teen took his own life earlier this year. Friends in that school district have cited bullying as a possible factor.

A study released last week found that teen suicides are more likely in conservative areas and that gay and lesbian teens are more likely to have attempted suicide. The research of Dr. Mark Hatzenbuehler, Ph.D., Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University in New York, evaluated different communities on “the proportion of same-sex couples, the proportion of registered Democrats, the presence of gay-straight alliances in schools, and nondiscrimination and anti-bullying policies in schools school policies that specifically protected lesbian, gay, and bisexual students.”

The results showed that gay students in more tolerant areas were less likely to attempt suicide. The study controlled for risk factors that might contribute to suicide attempts, including symptoms of depression, excessive use of alcohol, physical abuse by adults and peer victimization or bullying.

“This study suggests that we can reduce suicide attempts among LBG youth by improving the social environment and really challenges the myth that there is something inherent in being gay that puts gay youth at risk of attempting suicide. Instead, what we’ve shown is that the social environment strongly influences the prevalence of suicide attempts,” Hatzenbuehler told Medscape Medical News.

There’s no indication that Marshall’s schools are unsafe for LGBT students or that the community is not tolerant of LGBT people. The study only focused on the state or Oregon.

Cornell University psychologist Dr Ritch Savin-Williams told the Daily Mail that the message shouldn’t be that gay and lesbian youth are more likely to be suicidal but that society should look at more protections for young people.

He said “we have given them the message that they are suicidal” and instead society should “look (at) what kind of abilities you’re squashing by not having protection of gay kids.”

“There’s a lot of events, and a lot of opportunities for me to speak out over the next years and I have chosen not to,” Bush said in response to a question about Park51 from Matt Lauer. “And the reason I’ve chosen not to is I don’t want to intrude upon my successor’s ability to get the job done. Inevitably if you were able to get me to answer this question they would then compare that answer to what President Obama or what other presidents might say on the issue.”

While he was unwilling to address the mosque, Bush did defend the general principle of religious freedom in this country. “I think most Americans welcome freedom of religion and honor religions. I truly do,” he said. “The problem with the arena today is a few loud voices can dominate the discussion, and I don’t intend to be one of the voices in the discussion.”

He opened up more on economic policy, offering a strong defense of the tax cuts he passed early in his administration and arguing that they should be extended in order to support job creation. “If you raise the top rate, you’re taxing job creators,” Bush said.

He defended the economic record during his tenure as president, arguing that although he entered office during the burst of the dot-com bubble, there was still positive job growth, including a nearly 53-month period of job increases. (In the interview, Bush was unintentionally modest, saying weeks instead of months.)

Still, he acknowledged that his economic legacy wasn’t viewed completely positively. “It’s too bad they call them the Bush tax cuts,” he joked to Lauer. “They might have a better chance of being extended if they were the Lauer tax cuts.”

Watch the full interview below:

The highlight is probably a clip from David Letterman’s show intended to prove that the teleprompter that “late night comics” have noticed this non-story:

Critics are now criticizing his overuse of the teleprompter. [Audience laughs, Letterman throws his hands up.] OK. Maybe he should think about stepping down.

That’s a joke about the coverage, not about the president.