Legal Fees to fight against homophobic bullying

Aim

I want to raise legal fees so I can take my company to court for their failures in helping me fight against homophobic behaviour at work.

I started a new engineer job in 2015, 

like a lot of gay men in more "typical masculine" toxic environments I never felt comfortable coming out as gay man (I have always struggled with my mental health because like a lot of gay men born in the 70,s we grew up in Thatchers Britain with Section 28, I grew up in a small town not knowing who I was or what I was well into my 20's)

After a few years the men on the shop floor started to figure out and are starting to experience homophobic incidences. 

example I had been off sick (My step mum had died quickly from cancer and it knocked me for six) when I came back to work one the men asked me if I've been off with AIDS, I was getting women's shoes left in my locker and homophobic comments left on my desk, when I went to the company their response was "no evidence nothing we can do about it" they would put the dignity at work poster on the board again (which would get ignored) and expect me to continue working in this environment as if nothing has happened. 

After a couple of weeks there was another incident where somebody was using homophobic language on shop floor, I reported it to the trade union, My manager and HR, The trade unions response was "was this flippant homophobic language? " the manager response was he agreed with the union guy and was basically trying to put the blame on me for not accepting that some people have still got old type attitudes. 

HR did ask me to come in and see them and told me that they would do some equality training after three years this never happened and not one person has been on the training. 

Anyway the pandemic come I was off on Furlong for a long time but then when I was asked back to work after a few weeks there was another homophobic incident on the shop floor but this time there were some Witnesses and finally I thought that I would start making some progress fighting against these homophobic people but when the company interviewed all the Witnesses not one of them admitted that it happened, in the end the company were trying to make out like I was crazy, that I was making these things up, so I just thought I cannot keep working at this place, how can I ever win?! and I went off sick last August.

I then put a grievance in against the company for failing to train anybody in equality and for them accepting homophobic language etc in the workplace and not taking any of the issues serious, the final investigation showed that they had let me down but instead of paying me off and letting me go there solution was to move me into a different area of the factory, because they recognised that they had a problem in a certain area. 

My union have been about as useful as a chocolate teaspoon and do not seem to want to take on the case, I decided to pay for my own employment specialist solicitor (£300 an hour) and they was appalled by everything they had read, they think I have a strong case as have email evidence and then admitting they failed me but to take this case on it will cost me between £10k to £15k and because I lost a lot of money on Furlong and because I've been off sick that is just something I cannot afford but it is hard to walk away from this company with nothing and not fighting it, I am hoping to warn other (LGBTQ) people against working for this multinational company who should know better. I have reported that I have heard transphobic jokes that I heard jokes about lesbians ("that what they need is a good f***ing") but every time the company's response was "no evidence, nothing we can do" 

I am hoping this touches a chord with anybody else who's experienced homophobic bullying in the workplace, who had to leave with nothing, I want to fight this, I want you to fight this with me 

If the solicitors ends up not being the full cost I will donate all the spare money to a anti-bullying charity. 

This homophobic bullying has damaged me so badly, it has strained my relationships with my family, it has seriously damaged my mental health ( I ended up with emotional numbness because I kept going into this place where I was experienced so much toxic behaviour) I was saying to my counsellor how I felt so weak but her response was "when it is one person fighting against institutional homophobia you are never going to win on your own, you need other people to be standing up with you"

This project closed unsuccessfully on 28th March 2022