Khatami's defense of the execution of gays was met by silence as he addressed the Harvard audience that assembled to welcome the former head of Iran's bloody regime.

Governor Romney was absolutely correct to deny Khatami any evidence of honor or welcome.  Everyone in the audience who meekly accepted this barbarism is responsible to a degree for allowing Khatami to leave with the idea that his regime is considered as other than barbaric.

From the Harvard Crimson's account:

In his 30-minute address under heavy security, the Muslim cleric also defended the militant Lebanese group Hezbollah as a legitimate resistance movement fighting for the “territorial integrity” of Lebanon....

Khatami, widely considered a reformer in Iran, was often met with applause from the Kennedy School audience....

In response to another question, Khatami also justified his country’s use of capital punishment for acts of homosexuality, but said that the conditions for execution are so strict that they are “virtually impossible to meet.”

“Homosexuality is a crime in Islam and crimes are punishable,” Khatami said. “And the fact that a crime could be punished by execution is debatable.”

The audience responded with silence to his remark.

I disagree with the president's decision to issue the visa, and believe Christopher Hitchen's contingent support for such visits is misguided because the rebukes Hitchens expects will be delivered to such visitors are never given.  Just the opposite occurs, in fact.  Khatami leaves Harvard with applause ringing in his ears and a display of moral cowardice certain to be the subject of many discussions in Tehran.

University of Virginia alum Joshua Sharf has a similar reaction to his alma mater's hosting of Khatami.