Megan Rapinoe Accidentally Outed Her Twin Sister

Coming out to one's parents can be a traumatic and emotional experience, but not for Rachael Rapinoe. Why not? Because twin sister Megan accidentally did it for her, she revealed to OutSports co-founder Cyd Ziegler on his Five Rings To Rule Them All podcast.

"I was at class, and [our mom] and Megan got to talking, and Megan came out to her," the CBD entrepreneur and former soccer player recounted to Ziegler. "She didn't take it very well, she was very upset, and Meg's second reaction after coming out was 'Well Rachael's gay too!'"

Being a fraternal twin sister, Rachael knew that Megan meant no harm and was only acting instinctually.

"That was her defense mechanism, to tell my mom and dad that I was gay too," she explained. "So that's my coming out story. And Megan's."

Not only did Rachael not mind, she even thanked her sister in a light-hearted way.

"I didn't care, because I probably wouldn't have said anything for a very long time, so you know, I should thank Megan for blasting me like that.

Rachel had been involved in a same-sex relationship in college at the time, but didn't consider herself gay or bisexual. After the pair broke up, Megan knew something was wrong and confronted her.

"So I told Megan I'd been going through a breakup and I was dating this girl, but I still would not consider myself gay or bisexual or anything," she remembered. "I just, you know, fell in love with a person."

But after her sister then revealed she had the same feelings and thought she might be gay, Rachael began to realize "this is who I am."

Just like her World Cup champion and Olympic gold medalist sister, Rachael also played soccer at the collegiate and professional level. A succession of ligament tears in her knee led to her retirement from play in 2012. She has since co-founded Mendi which markets CBD products to recovering athletes.

Rachael was quick to point out to Ziegler how she's applied the lessons she learned from sports into her entrepreneurial endeavors. Hard work and learning to rely on one's teammates were key, she revealed, but so was learning to fail.

"You have to learn to make mistakes" in order to learn from them, she explained.

It's pretty clear Rachael has learned from sister Megan's mistake as well.

RELATED | Megan Rapinoe Just Made a Powerful Statement Against Donald Trump