Workplace bullying

I’m a backroom associate and I’ve been getting harassed by other associates (mostly the few woman associates that work back there because in the meeting I’ve been saying that there’s a disconnect in the department. The men have been doing the heavy lifting while mainly all the women except 1, wants to only do small task. when I mentioned that in the meeting in front of everyone and our manager said they’ll look into it and change things around based on some of the input I said, then the women erupted and started spreading rumors about me. My team lead know of the rumors but doesn’t say anything, I wonder what should I do?. Should I escalate it to the higher up stating that freedom of opinion is in jeopardy in the back because if you have a different view then they spread rumors and attack your moral (that would create a more unhealthy environment for everyone including me) or should I not say anything ?