A Supreme Court Justice in the US has responded to a letter from a young girl which requested that the Supreme Court strike down the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) to help her lesbian parents.

11-year-old Cameron Myers Milne, of Wilson, received a letter from Justice Sonia Sotomayor, which did not comment on the upcoming court case on DOMA, but did encourage Myers Milne to keep aiming high.

“I know dreams can come true when you work hard to achieve them,” Sotomayor wrote. “I wish you the joy of dreaming big, working hard and succeeding in all that you do.”

The Supreme Court is due on 27 March to hear evidence around the case of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), which defines marriage as between a man and a woman, passed under President Bill Clinton in 1996.

Milne wrote to all nine Supreme Court justices after she watched President Obama’s inauguration in January, for his second term, with her lesbian parents who got married in New York, reports the Associated Press.

Speaking at his inauguration, President Barack Obama made a speech which said “our journey is not complete” until equal rights for gay people is reached, and referred to the importance of the Stonewall riots in terms of moves towards equality.

On 26 March, the court will also take up the case of whether to overturn Proposition 8, which in 2008 added a clause to the Californian constitution stating that marriage could only be recognised by the state if it were between a man and a woman, causing widespread controversy.

Former President Bill Clinton, wrote an impassioned letter to the Supreme Court earlier this week which said that, despite signing DOMA into law himself, he thought it was time for it to be overturned.

The Obama administration, filed a brief in February, urging the Supreme Court to strike down blocks to equal marriage as did two top NFL players, both equal rights advocates, Chris Kluwe and Brendon Ayanbadejo, who filed an amicus brief with the court.

Clint Eastwood joined over 100 top Republicans who signed up to argue that the Supreme Court should overturn Proposition 8, and in her own way, TV host Ellen, gave her impassioned reasons for wanting to have equal marriage across the US.

President Obama’s nomination of Sonia Sotomayor for the vacant seat in the US Supreme Court seat in 2009 “pleased” LGBT advocacy groups.