A Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride board member who was voted out in a recent election is suing the organization alleging that two executive directors fixed the results by arranging to have ballots tossed in the trash.

In her lawsuit filed this month, Alexa Castanon said she pushed to ensure that the organization was following the rules but was routinely met with backlash by President Denise Newman and LaRhonda Slaughter, a vice president.

Castanon, the board’s sole transgender member, said Newman and Slaughter ignored her efforts to have Pride be more inclusive of the transgender community and regularly left her off emails and notices that were circulated to other members.

The organization declined comment Friday due to the ongoing litigation. Attorney Leslie Smith, who represents Castanon, could not be reached for comment.

Founded in 1983, Pride is the nonprofit arm that organizes the city’s annual Long Beach Lesbian & Gay Pride Festival & Parade, one of the largest in the country. The organization operates year-round and sponsors other philanthropic projects, according to its website.

The lawsuit alleges that the organization is required to have 20 board members, but several seats have been left vacant since Newman and Slaughter “took over leadership.”

The pair disbanded the election committee prior to the annual election in August and then conspired with ballot counters to toss votes in the trash in an effort to push out Castanon, who was the only member to not be re-elected, the suit says.

Newman and Slaughter later removed the ballots from the election room trash can and destroyed the votes, the suit alleges.

When Castanon demanded a recount at a recent board meeting, it was discovered that the remaining ballots were missing, the suit says.

“When the election results were opened, (Castanon) and the entire membership learned for the first time that there were no ballots in the envelope,” the suit says. “Slaughter adamantly protested that she did not know what happened to the ballots or why they were not there.”

Castanon has remained on the board but is not permitted to vote at any of the meetings, according to the lawsuit.

The lawsuit also accuses Newman and Slaughter of “routinely making unilateral decisions which required board approval and which involved spending substantial sums of the organization’s money that primarily benefitted friends of theirs who were the recipients of those funds.”

Castanon is demanding that Newman and Slaughter be removed from their duties and is asking that her voting status as board member be restored.

The lawsuit is pending in Los Angeles Superior Court.