Safe Spaces Should Feel Safe

Help us protect The Center, its staff, and the community it serves. This site details leadership failures at the LGBTQ Center Long Beach. 50 current and former staff, volunteers, clients, and community partners as well as former board members and fundraisers signed a formal letter to the board detailing the Executive Director's toxic leadership and poor management. The goal is accountability and a change in course, not punishment.

What this is about

This is a survivor-led community archive for accountability, healing, and transparency. The Center is hurting under Ellie Perez. As documented in the letter "For many LGBTQ+ staff, clients, and volunteers, the Center was meant to be a refuge — a place of belonging after years of abuse, bullying, discrimination, and rejection from an unaccepting world. Instead, they found the same harm, from the very leadership entrusted to protect them. This has been a profound betrayal of the very people this organization exists to protect."

📄 Read the letter ✉ Email the board

Timeline of events

Years of warnings. Documented harm. Requests for accountability.

The below timeline only documents the grievances of those who came forward, while many others suffered in silence.

Summer 2023

Multiple people privately warn different board members against nominating Ellie as interim director due to past toxic and bullying behaviors.

July 2023

Ellie Perez is named as interim Executive Director. Ellie states that she would be the official ED within a few months thanks to her close relationship with the board president.

August 2023

Email sent by a board member to Ellie and the Board regarding Ellie's misconduct.

November 2023

Grievance filed with Insperity by an employee regarding Ellie's abusive behavior. A client and community member emails the Board regarding Ellie's hostile mistreatment.

March 2024

A former board member sends multiple emails to the board demanding Ellie be held accountable for her behavior.

March 2024

An employee files an incident report and emails a board member after being verbally abused and harassed by Ellie.

April 2024

Grievances against Ellie Perez's toxic leadership and poor management submitted on behalf of community members, then-current and former staff members, and former Board Members to the Center Board, LA County Supervisor, Long Beach Ethics Officer, Long Beach Mayor, and Long Beach Vice Mayor with request for investigation into Ellie's misconduct. Completion of interviews for Executive Director revealed all other candidates to be more qualified with stronger skill-sets.

Leadership failures

Toxic and hostile behavior

Verbal and nonverbal hostility, intimidation, and public humiliation of staff
Defensive reactions to feedback; dismissal of constructive dialogue
Selective enforcement of rules and favoritism toward certain staff
Gaslighting—denying statements and shifting explanations when challenged
Fabricating accusations and blaming staff without evidence
Withholding recognition despite staff going above and beyond

Harm to marginalized communities

Demeaning and disrespectful treatment of families of trans youth
Reduction in programming and support for unhoused community members
Comments and actions perceived as discriminatory based on age, class, race, and other identity markers
Shift away from prioritizing the most marginalized and vulnerable communities

Poor management

Lack of understanding of basic operational roles and departmental functions
Essential operational tasks neglected, staff assigned untenable roles
Loss of partnerships, donors, and grant funding
Disorganized planning, poor workflows, poor communication

From people who've lived this

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."

The board hasn't acted

The board has been aware of these issues for years. They've received:

Numerous grievances from staff
Formal complaints from board members
Documented instances of toxic behavior
Direct feedback about organizational decline
Now: A 50-signature collective statement

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.

What's needed

Immediate removal of Ellie Perez as executive director
Selection of interim and permanent leadership with integrity, compassion, humility, and emotional intelligence
Public commitment to organizational healing and restoration of community trust
Re-prioritization of programming and support for trans families, unhoused people, and marginalized communities
Transparent process for addressing past harm and preventing future harm

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.

Demand accountability

Contact the board. Tell them Ellie Perez must be removed.

📄 Read the letter ✉ Email the board

board@centerlb.org

About this statement

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.