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Letters: Sports can turn the Indiana tide

#BOYCOTTIndiana. It's all the rage. Indiana's 20th-century way of thinking has garnered the forces of social media to push back quickly and punitively. Say hello to the 21st century, Indiana. It's a time and place that frowns upon discriminatory, bigoted and homophobic legislation.

#BOYCOTTIndiana. It's all the rage.

Indiana's 20th-century way of thinking has garnered the forces of social media to push back quickly and punitively. Say hello to the 21st century, Indiana. It's a time and place that frowns upon discriminatory, bigoted and homophobic legislation.

Miley Cyrus is saying potty-mouth words about Gov. Mike Pence on Instagram.

The Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) is threatening to pull its biennial convention, scheduled for 2017, out of the state.

Dear Indiana: You've lost the moral high ground when the queen of twerking and good Christians come together for a righteous cause.

Now it's time for the NCAA and other prominent sports organizations to join in and stand up for human decency and inclusiveness.

Pack everything up in boxes and call the Two Men and a Truck. Tell Pence you're done here.

I'm sure he might be in the mood to reconsider the legislative mandate if the NCAA threatens to move its headquarters out of the state.

(Selfish aside: I hear Central Florida is lovely at this time of year, and is dating.)

You too, USA Gymnastics, USA Track & Field and USA Diving.

Tell them that intolerance is unacceptable.

Whatcha got to say, Indiana Pacers?

And you, Jim Irsay? Are those the values you want to preach as owner of the Indianapolis Colts?

And strictly from a business sense, you think Indy has a shot at hosting another Super Bowl in a state that embraces discrimination disguised as "religious freedom"?

To review, the legislation prohibits Indiana laws that "substantially burden" a person's ability to follow his or her religious beliefs. And because the definition of "person" extends to religious institutions, businesses and associations, it's easy to see why many people fear that this provides legal cover for discrimination.

The state may as well put up a sign that reads: "We don't want your business, LGBT people! It's bad enough we have to let those Negroes and Hispanics slide!"

This is where the sports industry can become such a powerful voice in this debate.

Take a peek inside a sports huddle. What do you see? People of all shapes, colors, sizes and sexual orientation bonding together.

Teammates for a common cause.

Diversity at its very best.

And if Indiana isn't down for that, tell them the gig is up, business-wise.

The NCAA can start by amping up the pressure at the men's Final Four this coming weekend.

A nice start would be threatening to pull the women's Final Four out of there in 2016.

Send a supportive message to all your gay and lesbian athletes that you stand with them.

Not surprisingly, NCAA president Mark Emmert already has issued a prepared statement, casting concerns about the legislation. "The NCAA national office and our members are deeply committed to providing an inclusive environment for all our events," Emmert said.

"We are especially concerned about how this legislation could affect our student-athletes and employees."

Frankly, that's not enough. Hit 'em in the wallet and pocketbook. Be Like Marc. That would be Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who recently tweeted that his company is "canceling all programs that require our customers/employees to travel to Indiana to face discrimination."

San Francisco mayor Edwin M. Lee is barring municipal employees from traveling to Indiana for work-related trips.

The LGBT Sports Coalition is requesting that all major sporting events be moved from Indiana.

"Indianapolis wants to be the amateur sports capital of the world, but it can't maintain it is the sports capital of the world and at the same time allow bigotry in its state," said Nancy Hogshead-Makar, CEO of Champion Women, a nonprofit organization that provides legal advocacy for girls and women in sport. "Those two things are incompatible."

Make Indiana pick and choose, NCAA.

Same for all those other amateur-sports governing bodies.

Colts, Pacers. The whole bunch of 'em.

Business or bigotry?

You can't have both.