The Hortons are boycotters. If we don’t like a company, product, person, organization, etc. we add it to the list. Currently, that boycott list includes a wide range of things, from Subway to the NFL to Santa.

Sometimes, the boycott is merely symbolic to us and requires no real sacrifice. I was never a big fan of professional football, so refusing to watch games on TV is no great sacrifice. If you’re curious, the NFL was added to the list when it became obvious that the company placed profits over the safety of its players (college football is very close to finding itself on the list as well, and if that happens it will be a sad day for this Mississippi State fan).

There are other times, however, when our boycott list is a pain to follow. Subway is a good example. I love their sandwiches. Sure, it’s no Firehouse Subs or Jason’s Deli, but Subway is always there. No matter where you live, you can find a Subway. The food is decent and cheap and that’s about as far as my requirements go for a good meal.

But Subway’s former spokesman is a pedophile and some executives in the company likely knew about it, so we don’t eat at Subway.  Even when the kids beg us for it. Even when it’s on the way home and it’s quick and easy. Even when I crave 12 inches of Meatball Marinara.

The latest group to make the list is one that is bound to cause some consternation in our home. It’s Olympics time and my wife is a hard-core fan. I, on the other hand, would rather watch just about anything (even “Gilmore Girls”) than some gymnast doing a floor routine. While I can appreciate the athleticism, commitment and sacrifice any sport requires, I just don’t find gymnastics that entertaining.

So it’s not hard for me to place USA Gymnastics on my boycott list. USA Gymnastics, which develops the U.S. Olympic team and promotes the industry, failed to alert authorities to allegations of sexual abuse by coaches, according to a recent story in the Indianapolis Star newspaper.

Once again, someone (or multiple someones) placed success (and money) over the safety of athletes.

The newspaper’s investigation “uncovered multiple examples of children suffering the consequences, including a Georgia case in which a coach preyed on young female athletes for seven years after USA Gymnastics dismissed the first of four warnings about him.”

The organization routinely dismissed sexual abuse allegations unless they came directly from a victim or a victim’s parents. And it dismissed many allegations.

While the number of sexual misconduct complaints is unknown, the organization compiled dossiers on more than 50 coaches it apparently suspected of abuse, according to the newspaper.

The newspaper found four cases in which USA Gymnastics was warned of suspected abuse by coaches but did nothing.  Those coaches went on, according to police and court records, to abuse at least 14 underage gymnasts after the warnings, the newspaper reported.

That’s at least 14 young men and women who possibly would have been spared the torture of sexual abuse had the organization put the safety of its athletes first. But just like the NFL and its response to concussion research, USA Gymnastics decided that other things were more important, namely money and the organization’s reputation.

In one case, a gym owner wrote to the organization about a coach, saying that the coach bragged about having a 15-year-old girl in her underwear and said he thought he would be able to have sex with her soon.

“To allow this scum bag to continue working within the gymnastic community would be a terrible insult to all of the gym owners and coaches who have worked so hard to build up the reputation of gymnastics,” the gym owner wrote.

The organization also received a fax after the coach had resigned over allegations of sexual harassment. The fax included six pages of allegations. But he continued to coach at another gym and USA Gymnastics renewed his membership the next year. The organization dismissed the allegations as hearsay.

Why not air on the side of protecting children? Why not report the allegations to police and let a proper investigation sort out who was guilty or not? Why not do what any normal human with an ounce of decency would do?

Because doing so would likely hurt the organization and the very people who should have reported the allegations. It’s self preservation at its worst.

So, USA Gymnastics, for your lack of morality or anything resembling responsibility, welcome to my boycott list.

Luke Horton is publisher of The Daily Leader. Email him at luke.horton@dailyleader.com.