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Biden's Pentagon pick supports overturning military transgender ban

Retired General Lloyd Austin prepares to testify before the Senate Armed Services Committee during his confirmation hearing to be the next Secretary of Defense in the Dirksen Senate Office Building in Washington, U.S. January 19, 2021. Jim Lo Scalzo/Pool via REUTERS

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Retired Army General Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon, said on Tuesday that he supported a plan to overturn a ban on transgender service members.

“If you’re fit and you’re qualified to serve and you can maintain the standards, you should be allowed to serve and you can expect that I will support that throughout,” Austin said at his confirmation hearing.

He did not specify when the ban, put in place by President Donald Trump, would be overturned.

Reporting by Idrees Ali and Phil Stewart; Editing by Leslie Adler

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