Organizing Committee

Founder, Organizer, Director
Dr. Jampa Wurst
read more
Dr. Jampa Wurst studied comparative religion at Freie Universität Berlin, where they earned their PhD in 1999. In their studies, they conducted field work among Tibetan Buddhist nunneries in exile India. They was ordained twice with white robes in Theravada Buddhism. From 1991 – 1999 they studied at the Tibetan Centre in Hamburg the “7 Years Systematic Studies of Buddhism”. They finished with a certificate and earned a small yellow hat of the Gelug tradition, so similar to a teacher/acharya.
Furthermore, they is a lifelong member of Sakyadhita, has held regular workshops about LGBTQQIA+ at Buddhist Conferences.
As DJ Jampa Sausage, they invented Dharma Rap, a playful medium to stir interest in education, research, Buddhist, ethics, feminism, diversity, and politics.
On the artistic side, Jampa is not only a rapper but also a painter with more than 100 paintings in their digital atelier.
Realizing the need for a safe space for queer Buddhists, having been bullied in their Buddhist communities, they founded the International Queer Buddhist Conferences shortly before the pandemic. Since 2021 the IQBCs have become an annual event.
Co-Organizer
Miriam
read more
I know Jampa from my university days.
We had almost all courses together except for cultural anthropology.
I like to help in the background, so I will keep an eye on the conference and social platform gathertown and hope that you discover its potential.

WebDesign
Melanie
read more
Melanie is a Yoga Teacher and web designer. As an ally, she designs and curates the IQBC website, edits texts, and contributes to the organization of the conference.

Volunteer
Sibling Yonten Phuntsok
read more
Sib. Yonten (they/them) is a self-ordained Buddhist monastic (2017) who’s root traditions are in the Tibetan Kagyu lineage (2008). Though from 2014 has been following teachings of Ven. Thich Nhat Hanh & the Plum Village tradition. Their walking of the Buddha’s path started in
1999 when they attended 3-day Lojong teachings in London, offered by HH the 14th Dalai Lama. They is a Neuro-Diverse & disabled person, a military veteran & part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community also is the representative for PVUK’s newly forming ‘Inclusion circle for
Disability and Neurodiversity’.

Helping Hand
Lukas
read more
Lukas is postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, Nijmegen, NL. Before that, he studied computer science at Kiel University, Germany.