Last Updated on: 10th May 2025, 11:43 am
Hank Plante is a journalist and one of the first openly gay television reporters in the United States. With a career spanning over three decades, he has made significant contributions to both print and broadcast journalism, particularly in California.(Palm Springs Life, Palm Springs)
He began as a copyboy at The Washington Post, eventually working on the city desk. He later became the managing editor at Sentinel Newspapers in Washington, D.C. (nlgja.org)
He held reporting and anchoring positions at several stations, including KHJ-TV in Los Angeles, KRIV in Houston, KMSP-TV in Minneapolis, and WVEC-TV in Norfolk. He also served as an assignment editor at WTTG-TV and news editor at WRC Radio in Washington, D.C.
In the mid-1980s, Plante joined KPIX-TV (CBS 5) in San Francisco, where he spent 25 years as a reporter, anchor, and political editor. During this time, he conducted interviews with numerous political figures, including five U.S. Presidents.
His reporting on the AIDS crisis in San Francisco during the 1980s earned him national recognition. His work contributed to KPIX-TV’s “AIDS Lifeline” project, which was honored with a George Foster Peabody Award in 1986. (USC Dornsife)
He has received multiple accolades, including several local and national Emmy Awards, the Pioneer Award from GLAAD, and the James R. Harrison Award from the San Francisco AIDS Foundation. He was inducted into the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences’ Silver Circle and the LGBT Journalists Hall of Fame in 2010.
Originally from Detroit, Plante now resides in Palm Springs, California, with his husband, artist Roger Groth.