Marven, also known as Lady Tacos de Canasta ( en, Lady Basket Tacos) (born 1984) is a Mexican muxe street taco vendor. She gained popularity on social media for selling tacos at Mexico City Pride in 2016, bringing attention to her expressive personality.

Biography

Marven was born and raised in

Villa de Etla Villa de Etla is a town and municipality located in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. It is located in the far northwestern part of the Central Valley of Oaxaca, about seventeen km from the capital. The town is centered on the church and former monaste ...

, in the state of

Oaxaca Oaxaca ( , also , , from nci, Huāxyacac ), officially the Free and Sovereign State of Oaxaca ( es, Estado Libre y Soberano de Oaxaca), is one of the 32 states that compose the political divisions of Mexico, Federative Entities of Mexico. It is ...

in Mexico. Her family sold

tacos de canasta Tacos de canasta ('basket tacos') are a popular Mexican food preparation consisting of tortilla filled with various stews. Typical fillings are Potato, ''papa'' ('potato'), ''chicharrón'' ('pork rinds'), ''Bean, frijoles'' ('beans') or ''adobo'' ...

, a variety of taco prepared and sold by vendors on the street, typically while on a bicycle. From an early age, she helped her family with their business. Working as a vendor, she developed a distinctive cry that emphasized her strong voice and attracted customers to her tacos. In 2016, her friends invited her to sell tacos at Mexico City Pride. While there, a video of her selling tacos was uploaded to

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

, where it went

viral Viral means "relating to viruses" (small infectious agents). Viral may also refer to: Viral behavior, or virality Memetic behavior likened that of a virus, for example: * Viral marketing, the use of existing social networks to spread a marke ...

, giving Marven the nickname "Lady Tacos de Canasta". Following this appearance, she has been invited as a special guest at subsequent Mexico City Prides. In 2019, she appeared on the

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

series ''

Taco Chronicles ''Taco Chronicles'' (Spanish: ''Las Crónicas del Taco'') is an American-Mexican documentary television series focusing on tacos, Mexico's favorite street food. There is rich history and culture behind each variety of tacos, and the series tries ...

'', in the episode "Canasta". Since 2017, Marven has sold her tacos in Mexico City. She had previously sold her tacos along Madero Street, but stopped after an attack by the city's police force. In 2021, Marven ran for a position in the

Congress of Mexico City The Mexico City Congress ( es, Congreso de la Ciudad de México, ALCDMX) is the legislative branch of government of Mexico City. Between 1988 and 1993, it was known as the Assembly of Representatives of the Federal District ( es, Asamblea de Re ...

, under the banner of the Equality, Freedom, and Gender Party. She described the most recent altercation she had with police as fueling her desire to run for office.

References

{{Restaurants in Mexico 1984 births Mexican transgender women Chefs of Mexican cuisine Living people Muxe people