It takes a rare kind of grit to be the first person to tell the truth when everyone else is hiding. Barney Frank spent his life doing just that.

WHAT HAPPENED

Barney Frank died Tuesday at his home in Maine. He was 86 years old. His sister said he had been in a home for the sick due to heart failure.

Frank served in the House for more than 30 years. He was the first member of Congress to come out as gay on his own.

He also helped write the 2010 law that changed how banks work. This was the biggest fix to the money system since the Great Slump.

WHAT THE EVIDENCE SHOWS

32 years served in the U.S. House.

• 1st member of Congress to come out as gay on his own.
• 2010: The year his big bank law passed.
• 86: His age at the time of death.
• 1 major law named after him to stop bank risks.

THE BIGGER QUESTION

Frank proved you could be yourself and still be powerful. But as the people who wrote the rules for our money pass away, who is left to watch the big banks?

Will the next group of leaders have the same guts to stand up to Wall Street?

THE OTHER SIDE

Some people felt Frank’s rules for banks were too tough. They said his laws made it hard for small shops to get loans.

While these rules did slow some things down, they also stopped the kind of risky bets that hurt many families in 2008.

WHAT HAPPENS NOW

His death marks the end of an era for gay rights and fair money rules. Leaders in D.C. must now decide if they will keep his tough rules in place.

Regular people will feel this if the rules that protect their savings are ever taken away.

WHAT WE STILL DON'T KNOW

1. Who will lead the fight for bank rules now?
2. How will his home state honor his long work?
3. Will his bank laws stay strong in the years to come?

SOURCE NOTE

Facts from manual reports. All charges are allegations - Barney Frank is presumed innocent until proven guilty.