I would like to know if there are any groups, support services or data bases available for our community to help one another in finding gainful employment in a safe work space.

I live in North Carolina and as many of you know its a hard time for all of us here reguardless of where one fits in to whatever "label.

My best suggestion is to look at the HRC's CEI (Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index). It's done annually and rates the major employers on how accepting and accommodating they are. I'm not sure what kind of job you're looking for, but there are employers out there that run the full gamut from Target to Facebook.

I'm not aware of any listing outside of HRC, with that said my personal experience is looking at more forward thinking or progressive companies, it's not a sure bet but it seems to be a good indicator. I fully understand your concern, I live in North Dakota and there are parts of the state that are still stuck in the 1950's, so safety is a big concern for a girl like me. Have you ever thought about DSP work? It's not for everyone, but it's rewarding and even for a state like ND they by my experience very transgender friendly.

Colleges are good places-they often have pretty good non-discrimination policies.  Federal gov and some states also may be a good place to find a job where lgbt doesn't matter.  Also, looking in places where other lgbt are out and working-that is generally the sign of a better employer.

Thank you all for your help , I will look at the HRC'S CEI. I was working in a place i thought was supportive because the department head is lesbian. As soon as she found out I was Trans my schedule changed from solid day time to working 1st ,2nd and 3rd shifts followed by a dozen schedule changes in 1 week, loterly 12 changes. When i refused to work on a day previously scheduled off , i was told i had to resign or be terminated. Mind you it was a saturday i was scheduled off then rescheduled to work and the friday prior when i saw my schedule and called my supervisor with the issue i was forced to resign after saying if it was that big of an issue i would work. Anyway, im better off but i am so thankful for everyones help.

A good place to start would be online forums related to the specific business type if interest. Practically every category of self employment is represented by at least one. Through one of these you might even be able to locate a local group like you discussed. Forums can be infinitely useful, but in some you do need a thick skin, because hard core business people can be hard on newbies sometimes. What type of business are you considering?