Gayle McDaniel

Gayle McDaniel is the mother of main characters Layla and Callie McDaniel in the series, Sweet L.A. Life (Novel Series). She is a widowed housewife who disapproves of Layla's sexuality as a lesbian woman and is close-minded about the LGBT community. She also pressures her younger daughter, Callie into finding a boyfriend to marry as she believed that as a lesbian, Layla would never get married.
==Profile==
Gayle's oldest daughter, Layla formerly idolizes her and desperately craves her approval. Layla was always bringing home straight-A's and would help her mother with redoing the house, which inspired Layla to pursue a career in interior designing, and she is extremely proud of her career achievements. On the other hand, their relationship became strained when Layla came out to her mother about her sexuality. Since then, Gayle still doesn't accept her oldest daughter's sexuality and barely tolerates her relationships, including the one with Celia Morales, refusing to call Celia by her first name.
Gayle's youngest daughter, Callie also idolized her mother. Callie would do Gayle's hair and talk about fashion shows. However, Callie attempted to play mediator to both her mother and sister after Layla came out as a lesbian. Although she loved her mother, Callie disapproved of her mother's negative views on the LGBTQ + community, as she felt they were an insult to both the community and to Layla. Gayle also pushed Callie into finding a boyfriend and into marriage. Ther own relationship was strained when Callie told her mother she was attending beauty college and working at a hair salon. Gayle thought Callie's career choice was ridiculous and didn't make sense. She attempted to bully Callie into going to a state college and then to law school, but Callie refused. By 2002, Callie couldn't take her mother's controlling ways any longer and she left home. Two years later, when Gayle visited both her daughters in L.A. she learned that Callie's engagement to Peter was called off and Layla was in a relationship with a young entertainment reporter named Celia Morales. Gayle expressed her disapproval of her oldest daughter's relationship and blamed her lesbianism for end of Callie's engagement to Peter. However, Callie tried to explain to Gayle that the engagement ended due to her ex-fiance's infidelity, but Gayle refused to listen to her nor would take her side on the issue. Dismayed that nothing about their mother has changed Gayle's daughters sent her back to Laguna Beach. Seeing the broken relationship between Gayle and her daughters, Delores became a surrogate mother to the McDaniel sisters until Gayle fully accepted her oldest daughter's sexuality and her youngest daughter's career choice.
Gayle returned to L.A. in 2005 after her youngest daughter, Callie was wounded in a shooting during a benefit concert at Java the Hutt. Callie survived the shooting, but predictably, Gayle's visit turned sour. Like her last visit, Gayle blamed Layla and her friends for Callie getting shot and her not going to college nor going to law school. Layla argued back that being a lawyer wasn't what Callie wanted to pursue. But Gayle cut her off via conversation refusing to listen. After Callie recovered, Gayle attempted to control her by saying that Callie should return to Laguna Beach on the condition that she refrains from any contact with Layla, returns to college and go to law school, and fix her broken engagement to her ex-fiancé, Peter. Realizing that her mother would never change nor accept that she can make her own decision in life and career, Callie screamed at her mother to just leave. When Gayle refused to leave, Callie went berserk and started throwing things at her to go. Shocked by her daughter's outburst, Gayle leaves L.A. in tears. She didn't return in 2006 after Callie was checked into an eating disorder clinic after suffering a breakdown following a bulimia relapse. When she did return, she tried to blame Layla and her friends for Callie's problem with Bulimia, only for Callie to finally stand up to her mother and tell her that Gayle herself was the reason for Callie's eating disorder for being a controlling person.
==Trivia==
*Gayle is one of many parents in the series to not approve of their child(ren)'s sexuality. She didn't approve of her daughter Layla being a lesbian.
*She always had her hair done by her daughter, Callie, until they became estranged due to Callie supporting Layla.
*Although she never accepted Layla's sexuality, she had always loved her.
*She and her husband George have been married since 1965.
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