Lt. Robin Chaurasiya, a lesbian Air Force officer, was honorably discharged on Monday under Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell.

This is a reversal of a decision to not dismiss Chaurasiya made by military personnel earlier in her case.

Military officials decided not to dismiss Chaurasiya but insisted that she keep quiet about the accusations.

“I was encouraged to keep my mouth shut, basically, and that’s what really irked me about this ruling was that not only are we going to keep you in, but you have to shut up about it,” said Chaurasiya.

Chaurasiya said that her civil union was not a sham and that she is indeed a lesbian. She said she decided to come out in order to make changes in the military: “I felt my situation was hinting at changes. I really thought I would be able to lead the way for a more equal military.”

But now she seems less optimistic.

“You know, honestly, this whole process has really shown me that change is going to take a long, long time,” she said. “I don’t have the faith anymore that it’s going to happen. In that regard I’m not sorry to be leaving an incredibly prejudiced and discriminatory institution.”

When she came out publicly- she placed calls to the media- the Air Force reexamined its decision to keep Chaurasiya in the military. Her official honorable discharge came this week.

Chaurasiya joined the military by way of an ROTC scholarship to the Illinois Institute of Technology in Chicago. Because she is leaving the Air Force before her contract is up, she has been ordered to pay back $16,000 that she received from the ROTC.

This is not the first time the ROTC insisted on scholarships being repaid by military members who were discharged because of Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell. In May, ROTC asked Sara Isaacson to repay her $80,000 scholarship after she came out.

“It’s definitely going to be a bittersweet day on Monday,” Chaurasiya said. “You can’t just deny the fact this has been such a huge part of my life for however many years, ever since I started ROTC.”