Help us protect the Center, it's staff, and the community is serves. This is a community accountability statement about leadership failures at the LGBTQ Center Long Beach. This statement represents the voices of 50+ staff, volunteers, clients, families, and community partners who have documented years of toxic management, harm to marginalized communities, and organizational decline.
The Center is hurting. This is not about punishment, but accountability. The 50-signature open letter names Ellie Perez as Executive Director. It represents years of documented grievances and waves of staff, client, and community partner departures, with one consistent pattern: leadership that prioritizes control over compassion, and authority over accountability.
Burnout, anxiety, depression, panic attacks, and PTSD documented by signatories. Many have left the organization. Some report ongoing emotional and psychological impacts.
Felt disrespected by leadership. Withdrew from the Center—a resource they should be able to trust during increasingly hostile times. Loss of safe space during a critical period.
Lost programming and support from an organization that should serve the most vulnerable members of the LGBTQ+ community. Reduced services when need is greatest.
Loss of staff institutional knowledge, community partnerships, funding, and trust. Mission erosion and organizational decline. Risk of organizational collapse.
These are voices from current and former staff, volunteers, and community members who document the human impact of this leadership:
"It became increasingly apparent that Ellie Perez was unprepared for the scope and demands of serving as Executive Director of one of the largest LGBTQ Centers in the nation. There was minimal effort to understand the operational realities and day-to-day functions of the departments she was responsible for overseeing. There was little acknowledgment of how untenable the staffing model was, nor was there a clear plan to address it. It was difficult to identify needs, expectations, or even the scope of responsibilities, which made requesting support challenging and ineffective."
"Ellie interrupted me several times and said something pretty sh*tty to me. I remember asking her, 'Do you treat your staff like this?' because I know she does. I'm a survivor of abuse and I know what it looks like."
"I've only been back to Long Beach a couple of times since I left because of her. It's triggering for me to see her stickers all over the city."
"I don't think she cares. She's like a queer version of Trump."
"My first impression of Ellie was good… but this impression did not last long by hearing Ellie yelling and screaming at my immediate supervisor . . . Few weeks later I saw Ellie yelling at a vendor who came to help set up an event. . . She terminates him on the spot and the vendor left."
"Ellie is aggressive, rude and volatile. One of my first memories in a meeting was me trying to ask a question, her misunderstanding it and snapping on me in front of everyone. Not even giving me a chance to clear it up."
Years of warnings. Documented harm. Requests for accountability. Here's what happened, when it happened, and what the board did about it.
The below timeline only documents the grievances of those who came forward, while many others suffered in silence.
The board has been aware of these issues for years. They've received:
Despite this, there has been no meaningful action. The board's hesitation is not acceptable. Their job is to protect the organization and the community it serves. That job requires hard decisions.
The people who built this organization over decades deserve leadership that honors their vision. The community we serve deserves a safe space that actually feels safe.
Contact the board. Tell them Ellie Perez must be removed.
This website presents information from a collective accountability statement submitted to the LGBTQ Center Long Beach Board of Directors. The statement is signed by 50+ current and former staff, volunteers, clients, families of trans youth, community partners, former board members, and fundraisers.
All claims are based on documented experiences and verified observations of signatories. The purpose of this statement is accountability and organizational healing—not punishment, but transformation.
This comes from people who love this organization and the community it serves. We are calling for leadership change not out of anger, but out of hope for what the Center could be.