The Republican majority that controls the Alabama Senate took the unusual step of stopping debate on bills Thursday, forcing votes on the legislation and preventing Democratic senators from speaking at the mic.

The Senate passed bills requiring activation of porn filters on internet devices, age verification requirements for app stores, and a proposed constitutional amendment to require public schools to play the Star Spangled Banner at least once a week.

Other bills would change appointments to the board of the Department of Archives and History, change state law on the system to maintain voter rolls, and prohibit the use of foreign national driver license to use for voter ID purposes.

Republicans hold 27 of the 34 Senate seats, more than the 21 votes needed to pass a petition for cloture, or to end debate on bills.

Also, Lt. Gov. Will Ainsworth, a Republican, presides over Senate debate.

GOP senators generally do not use those advantages to silence the Democrats.

It is not unusual for Democratic senators to use the Senate rules to talk for hours and sometimes to block votes on bills.

But that changed on Thursday.

Ainsworth did not recognize Senate Minority Leader Bobby Singleton, D-Greensboro, when Singleton repeatedly raised his hand.

Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, issued a statement about how the Senate handled business on Thursday.

“The Alabama Senate focused its attention today on issues and legislation that reflect the basic morals, beliefs, and values of the average citizen of our state,” Senate President Pro Tem Garlan Gudger, R-Cullman, said in a statement.

“Protecting children from access to pornography in a society that seems more consumed by it each day, shielding the ballot box from fraud and foreign influence, promoting patriotism, and demanding a higher level of accountability and transparency from public boards are issues that almost every Alabamian can embrace.

“With seven legislative days remaining, much work remains before us, and long hours and intense debate will be the rule rather than the exception, but that’s what real leadership looks like.”

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After the Senate adjourned today, Minority Leader Singleton said he was more concerned about the substance of some of the bills than about not being recognized to speak.

Singleton called the calendar of Republican-backed bills a “red meat package.”

He specifically referred to the bill to change appointments to the Archives and History board and the bill to require playing of the Star Spangled Banner in schools.

“It’s the subject matters of the bills that I really have a problem with at the end of the day,” Singleton said.

Singleton said the bill changing the Archives and History board is retaliation for the Archives and History hosting a lecture in 2023 on the history of gay people in Alabama called “Invisible No More: Alabama’s LGBTQ History,” as part of its Food For Thought series.

The sponsor of the bill, Sen. Chris Elliott, a Republican from Baldwin County, said the purpose of his bill is to bring more accountability to the agency because under current law it is a self-appointing board. His bill would change that.

Elliott first brought the bill in response to the lecture because he said Archives and History went ahead and held the event after he and other lawmakers objected.

On Thursday, Elliott praised the work of Archives and History and the museum’s exhibits.

Singleton said he opposes the idea of a law requiring all schools to play the Star Spangled Banner.

The third stanza of the song has been characterized as racist by some because of its mention of slaves.

“We love our state and we love our country, just like anybody,” Singleton said. “I too, am American.

“But do I have to love something that talks about me and the history of my slavery? That degrades me and my people? No, I don’t. So why make children have to sing that in a school?”

That bill, by Sen. Gerald Allen, R-Cottondale, is a constitutional amendment that would require approval by voters.

Allen’s bill would require schools to play only the first stanza of the song.

Sen. Rodger Smitherman, D-Birmingham, thanked Allen for limiting the bill to the first stanza.

Allen said he remembers hearing the national anthem from the field house when he played high school football.

He said not all students participate in athletics or attend those events.

“That’s why it’s important that all our children will have the opportunity to hear the national anthem at least once a week,” Allen said.

All of the six bills that passed will also have to pass the House before they become law.