Thirty-year-old Danyiel Brustmeyer of Queens Village is a reservist in the United States Marine Corps. He is a captain who recently deployed to Afghanistan. 

"I always dreamed of serving in the military, signing up, being like my father, aspiring to be a strong leader," he said. 

Captain Brustmeyer is transgender and said President Joe Biden's executive order signed Monday lifting a military ban by the Trump administration in 2017 is a huge relief. 

This order makes it clear and unambiguous that a person cannot be discharged because they're transgender. 

Brustmeyer was part of a group that met with high-ranking Pentagon officials to share stories of being transgender in the military and urge acceptance, and understanding. 

Now, under the new order, anyone can enlist, regardless of their gender identity. 

"I wish the military saw me like that when I first joined and valued me that way. So now for them to feel that I feel the fight that we had fought for so long for is finally going to be fruitful," said Captain Brustmeyer. 

Alphonso David, the president of the Human Rights Campaign, said repealing the ban was one of the advocacy group’s top priorities. He said reversing the ban means that more than 15,000 service members and potential enlistees do not have to hide their true gender identity. 

"We are stronger when we focus on skills and qualifications rather than identity," said David. 

President Biden’s executive order also requires the Departments of Defense and Homeland Security to reexamine records of service members who were discharged under the previous policy. 

"What it really does is shows there's people out there who hear us, who see us, even if we don't have a voice," said Brustmeyer. "There's people out there fighting."

It's a fight that has now paid off.